Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Crowds line streets as city says sad farewell to teen Mason
THE funeral of teenager Mason Rist brought the Bristol suburb of Knowle to a standstill yesterday as hundreds gathered to pay their respects to the 15-year-old.
It was a grand send-off for the teenager, who was fatally stabbed outside his home almost two months ago, alongside his best friend Max Dixon, whose funeral took place on Thursday.
Young people packed into the Methodist Church on the Wells Road in Knowle.
There was not enough room for everybody who wanted to pay their respects so the service had to be broadcast to the crowds that filled the churchyard and pavements around.
They listened quietly as tributes were paid to Mason, with an overriding message taken from the classic Liverpool FC anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
The avid Liverpool fan was never alone on his final journey. He was carried in a colourful Liverpoolthemed coffin, inside a carriage drawn by horses decorated with plumes of red.
His family and close friends gathered outside the house, all wearing the familiar red Liverpool shirts with the number 15 and Mason’s name on the back.
The horse-drawn carriage set off from his home, at the spot where he was attacked on the last Saturday evening of January.
Neighbours and the whole Knowle West community gathered in groups outside their homes to pay their respects as the carriage was pulled down Ilminster Avenue past the primary school at the end of his road.
Then the cortege – by now numbering a long line of hearses and cars – turned left and headed along Salcombe Road and then Somerdale Avenue, through the Knowle West estate he called home, heading for the main road and the church.
There, a huge number of Mason’s friends gathered outside the church, many wearing Liverpool shirts or simply a red top.
He was taken into the church through the crowd which parted to let the pall bearers through, followed by the family in their Liverpool shirts.
As the crowds followed them into the church, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven began playing inside.
There was standing room only in the church as the first hymn, Amazing Grace, began.
The Rev Sally Spencer, who took the funeral, said the family was being very brave and courageous.
“I hope the family is feeling supported by the whole community and people beyond,” she told the mourners.
“Mason’s family have been amazing.
“I’ve been very impressed by the courage they’re showing and by the thoughtfulness they’re showing.
“Most of the funerals I take are for people who have lived a long and a good life. When it’s such a young life and you know there’s a lot of potential that’s not being realised, then it’s really hard.”
After the service, Mason’s family released four white doves, before departing for his final journey back across Knowle West and to the South Bristol Crematorium, with the family following in a convoy of supercars.
Donations were taken, as they were at Max’s funeral on Thursday, to raise funds for more bleed kits to be installed in locations around Bristol, and today, Trevor Silk, the partner of Max Dixon’s mum, is taking part in a charity walk from the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare to Bristol to further boost the fundraising, with a GoFundMe page set up for that.
Mason and Max died from knife wounds in Knowle West on January 27. Five people, including four children, have been charged with the murders while another two men have been charged with assisting an offender.
They will all next appear at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, April 26.