TRIBUTES have been paid to a schoolboy who drowned at a park – with his family saying he was “loved by all”.
Dean Irvine, 11, was playing with friends when he fell into the water, triggering a huge search.
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Emergency services were called to the Alexander Hamilton Memorial Park in Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, on Saturday July 24.
The schoolboy was recovered from the Avon Water – also known as the River Avon, which runs through the park – and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Today around 100 local residents, friends and family gathered to pay their respects in Fleming Way, near his home in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.
Many wore green, including Celtic Football Club shirts, with flares of the same colour set off as the hearse moved off.
Relatives and friends had the word “Deano” printed on the back of their football tops along with the number 11.
The crowds applauded and set off fireworks as the hearse carrying the coffin left the area with a convoy of cars following towards Celtic Park.
‘YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE’
Some cars in the convoy played “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, with the words also on a card beside the coffin.
Floral tributes were also made up for the lad, reading “Deano”, “Son”, “Brother” beside a bouquet made into a football.
Club staff gathered at the stadium to applaud the cortege, which then continued to a funeral home in Hamilton.
Dean is among at least 30 people to have died in water during the 32C heatwave.
A boy of nine was among three people found dead at a lake earlier in July.
A man, 41, and woman, 29, also died at Loch Lomond in Ardlui, Argyll and Bute.
Mum-of-two Natasha Core, 30, also drowned saving her son, nine, from a lake.
She got him to shore in Lough Gowna, Co Cavan in Ireland during the heatwave but did not emerge herself.
A big turnout is also expected for teen boxer Frank Varey’s funeral, which is set to take place today.
He was rushed to hospital and sadly died after getting into difficulty in the River Dee, Cheshire.
Source: The Sun
