Thousands of pounds has been donated to help the family of a Bristol man who drowned on holiday after trying to save his partner’s niece in a river tragedy. Friends and strangers have donated more than £4,000 to a fundraiser set up to help the family of Remo Douglas, who was killed in a river in Jamaica before Christmas.
Bristol Live broke the news last week of the tragedy, which claimed the life of Remo and his partner’s 11-year-old niece Brehania Syndale, who Remo was trying to save when disaster struck.
Read next: Bristol hero Remo Douglas drowned while saving family on holiday
The funeral of the 34-year-old from Easton is due to take place in Jamaica, with a memorial held back in his native Bristol at a later date. Close friend Lauroy Allen has set up a fundraising page to help the family with costs, and it has been inundated with donations, some of hundreds of pounds from people around Bristol who knew Remo growing up.
The fundraiser has already reached £4,164 towards its target of £6,000, and Lauroy said it was to help the family with the unexpected and tragic costs of the untimely death.
“All of us, as his friends and family, want him to have the best send off that he deserves as a man who cared about others to the very end,” said Lauroy. “There will be more information on the event to celebrate Remo and this will follow shortly in the coming days/weeks. Remo Douglas was a beautiful soul taken far too soon,” he added.
One donor, Janice Gordon, paid tribute to Remo. “Remo was a big part of my early teen years, always making me laugh and just being him. Hearing this news stopped me in my tracks, and instantly brought back all of the memories and there are a lot. Rest in perfect peace old friend, you will not be forgotten,” she said.
Friends and colleagues who worked with Remo at the automotive supply company Formel D in Stratford upon Avon collected £200 to donate to the family.
And another schoolfriend from Bristol, Jason Clarkson, said: “Back at school Remo kept us all laughing and smiling. Never had a bad word against anyone and was such a kind hearted soul into adulthood. He gave his life trying to save someone else and that just epitomises the type of man he was. Put others first to the very end,” he said.
*To visit Lauroy's GoFundMe page for Remo and his family, click here.
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