Friends' grief

TWO friends have spoken of their trauma following the tragic death last week of Kyle Bonnes in the River Faughan.

David King, 21, and Simon McCandless, 17, who was Kyle's closest friend, were among a group of six, including 15-year-old Kyle, who had been watching bikers in a field just minutes before Kyle entered the river and drowned while being chased by police.

Describing Kyle as full of life and 'up for anything', they say they cannot understand why their friend is dead and admit his death has not really sunk in yet.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Both young men admit that they have had trouble sleeping since witnessing the tragedy, and recall Kyle as a loyal friend and 'just a boy being a boy' in the hours before he died.

Their words summed up the sense of disbelief and trauma affecting young people in the communities of Drumahoe and Tullyally, who are still reeling from the shock of the teenager's death.

The Sentinel was also invited by representatives of young people in the Tullyally and Drumahoe areas to record events on Friday as they paid a touching tribute to Kyle by releasing small yellow ducks carrying personal messages close to where he entered the river Faughan on Wednesday.

Afterwards, his friends formed a guard of honour for the cortege as Kyle's body was brought home to Stevenson Park in Tullyally.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Since the tragedy young people have gravitated towards the scene of the incident, leaving messages with footballing memorabilia, floral tributes and poems at the riverbank and on the stone bridge overhead. Staff at Tullyally Community Centre opened the facility to allow the young people to talk about their pain, and counsellors have been brought into Lisneal College, where Kyle was a pupil.

Related topics: