Funeral of tragic teen in hotel fall

THE funeral of a Welsh teenager who died after falling from a walkway in Magaluf is to be held this week.

Tom Channon, 18, from Rhoose, near Barry, is understood to have fallen from a 65ft raised walkway on the Spanish island of Majorca on July 12.

The student is believed to have been with friends celebrating the end of his A-level exams when he became separated from the group on a night out.

He is the third Brit to die at the holiday complex this year.

Last Thursday family and friends gathered at St Peter’s Church in Rhoose to light a candle and write in a book of remembrance.

Now, following an outpouring of emotion from the local community, his family have shared details of his funeral to encourage people to attend.

A family friend said: “Tom’s family want to give him the best send-off. He was such a caring, kind, hard-working young man. On Thursday there was the opportunity for people to go the church and light a candle and write a message as a lot of people are very upset.

“It was just an opportunity for the community to show their support for the family and I think they were quite overwhelmed.

“They had a book of condolences and so many people signed it that they thought people should know about the funeral.”

Tom’s funeral will be be held at 11am tomorrow at St Curigs Church, Porthkerry. A celebration of his life will then take place at 1pm at Fontygarry Leisure Park.

Paying tribute, his parents John and Ceri Channon said: “We are devastated by the tragic loss of Tom and are trying to come to terms with this terrible situation.

“He was a gentle, kind and generous young man. He was a model son, brother and grandson who will be dearly missed.

“During this difficult time, we ask for the space and privacy to try to come to terms with a loss that will never be filled.”

His school, St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, also sent out their “thoughts and prayers” to his family.

The school said: “Respected by his teachers and loved by his friends, his sudden passing comes as a shock to the St David’s College community that will surely be felt by us all for a very long time.”

Last week Mr Channon’s father called for lessons to be learned after his son’s death.

Speaking from the complex in Magaluf, he told ITV News: “It’s just heartbreaking coming back to see this, I think it’s something we had to do, we had to understand where Tom spent his last moments, but it’s just so tragic.

“When you look at it, it never needed to happen. Quite clearly if something had been done after the last accident this would never have happened.

“I think it is the responsibility of hotels, I think it’s the responsibility of everyone involved really to try and get that message across.

“Tom didn’t die in vain if we can get this message across.”

Following Mr Channon’s death the owners of the Magaluf apartment block have said they will be installing transparent panels where the building walkway connects to the street.