Motorbikes and blue smoke fill streets of Sheffield in farewell to teenager Ethan Slater
The streets of Shiregreen and Ecclesfield were dressed in blue today (April 2) for the funeral of Sheffield teenager Ethan Slater.
17-year-old Ethan was found dead along with his girlfriend, Cherish Bean, 15, from Parson Cross, at a holiday park in Bridlington last month.
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Both lost their lives in a suspected carbon monoxide tragedy while on holiday with family. Four people have been arrested in connection.
Last week, Parson Cross was lit up with pink balloons, flares and brightly dressed mourners for Cherish’s funeral.
And today (April 2), it was Ecclesfield and Shiregreen’s turn to mark the life of Ethan.
The procession to St Mary’s Church, in Ecclesfield was made vivid by thousands of blue balloons, ribbons and cans of chalk paint after an appeal by Ethan’s family.
Dozens of well-wishers worked throughout Wednesday to decorate the route for Ethan’s final farewell.
Mourners first gathered at the family home on Molineux Road to accompany Ethan’s loved ones to St Mary’s Church.
The route to Shiregreen Cemetery stretched for over two miles and took over an hour to complete.
Sports cars and quad bikes revved through the city while onlookers set off blue smoke flares.
Youngsters dressed in blue rode on horseback or even the roofs of cars along the way.
The ceremony at Shiregreen was followed by a wake at Colley Club.
Speaking to The Star last week, Ethan’s mum Gabi Gatto, 35, said: “He will be missed by so many, but our biggest comfort is he and Cherish are together, he’s not on his own. It’s nice to know they have each other.
The last thing Gabi said to Ethan, as he headed off for his holiday, was something she had said a hundred times before - “Bye, love you. Have a good time.”
A self-confessed “big joker”, Ethan was known for winding up his siblings with “dead legs and bogeys”.
Just a week before his death, Ethan had celebrated his 17th birthday and had his first driving lesson, something he had always been raring to do.
His mum said he had a passion for cars and “hated walking”, constantly asking family members for lifts. He came home after his first lesson buzzing with excitement after being told he was a ‘natural’.
Mum Gabi said: “We will never recover from losing these two precious souls, we just hope that one day we meet again.
“Our world was torn into a million pieces when we lost them.”
It comes just a week after Cherish - who Ethan died alongside on the holiday in Bridlington - was buried. The young couple were staying in a lodge in a holiday park when tragedy struck.
Her funeral similarly filled Parson Cross with colour as mourners rode in sports cars and set off pink smoke flares.
Gabi described how she takes comfort in the fact that that young couple are together.
She said: “They were obsessed with each other, that proper first love... They were childhood sweethearts.”
Carbon monoxide poisoning is being looked into as a possible cause of death and four arrests have been made for manslaughter by gross negligence.