Help us give Simon the send off he deserves x

Firstly, we would like to thank you all for your love and support to our family over the last week, we appreciate every single message, comment and phone call we have had at this very difficult time.

As a family we are all suffering with the sudden and unexpected loss of my dad, Simon. He was a Son, husband, brother, dad, grandad, uncle, cousin and a friend to all he met, and he brought joy to every room he walked into.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday night, May 21st, we received the phone call that everybody dreads, that my dad had passed away. This happened whilst on holiday with his wife Lisa, in a place they loved and visited almost every year to make special memories.

We would like to share with you this story, in hope you understand this tragic accident happened so unexpectedly, and has left a huge hole in our family that will never be able to be filled, and we are looking to raise funds to give Simon the send of he deserves, and to take some of that pressure and stress away from our family at this awful time.

On Wednesday 21st, whilst my mum and dad were on holiday, my nan and grandad took my mum and dads dog, Simba, to the vets, and it turned out he was sicker than anybody could have ever have imagined and unfortunately had to be put to sleep. My nan rang my dad and informed him of this news, and both were heartbroken that they did not get one final cuddle before Simba crossed the rainbow bridge. As a token of Simba’s memory, my dad had arranged to have his paw print put in a frame, with his name, to give to his wife to remember their beloved dog by.

Later that day, they had arranged to go out for an evening meal, and went out to get Lisa a drink, and take it up to the room for her whilst she gets ready. My dad said to my mum he was going for a walk whilst she gets ready, and he will be back in around an hour to go for their meal, and this was the last conversation they had.

My dad went for a walk whilst my mum had her drink and got ready for their evening meal, which is not out of the normal for him, especially getting some fresh air after the hard day they had had with the loss of their dog, and unfortunately did not return to the room that night.

My dad had slipped and fell into the sea from some rocks, and was shouting for help. 2 men on the beach swam out to my dad upon hearing him, and attempted CPR in the water whilst bringing him to shore. 25 minutes later they had managed to bring my dad to shore, and first responders attempted their hardest at the scene to revive my dad, but unfortunately after 50 minutes he was pronounced dead on the beach. We will be eternally grateful to the 2 men who heard my dad, and tried their hardest to save his life, and to the first responders on the scene who lasted a whole 50 minutes in attempts to save my dads life.

On Thursday morning, my auntie Lynda flew out to be with her Sister Lisa, who was alone in Spain. They spent the next 48 hours speaking to the police, the insurance company, and the Jet2 rep, who have all been assisting in the organisation of bringing my dad home. My dads autopsy was completed and Lisa flew home with Lynda to be with her family and around her children in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Since then, as you can imagine, we have been informing the rest of my dads family and friends of the news, whilst trying to make arrangements to have him brought home, and to give him the funeral he deserves.

My dad is currently still in Spain, and we are waiting for more updates on when he can come home, so we can let him rest peacefully.

As a family, we are asking if any of his friends, family and colleagues wish to help our family through this difficult time, a donation to give my dad the best send off would be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to donate, please share far and wide, via social media. My dad was a well-known, loved part of all communities he was apart of, and will be sorely missed by everybody who met him.

We would like to thank you for reading my dads story, and for all the messages, calls, and comments we have received, for any donations that are made to the family, and for any shares.

We will keep everybody updated with funeral arrangements, as and when we have more information, and would like to invite anybody who wishes to say a final goodbye to my dad when the time comes.

Rest in peace dad, we will give you the send-off you deserve.

All our love, Joe, Lisa, and the whole of the Durrington family xx

EDIT: words can’t express how greatful we are, in under 48 hours we have raised over £3000 for Simon’s send-off. We appreciate every single donation and share. We honestly can’t believe it. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! Xxxx