Hero’s ashes sent skyward – his last wish
16th December 2010 The ashes of Lance Cpl David Kirkness, who was killed in Afghanistan a year ago today, wasrocketed over Morley Town Hall from the park in a firework. His mum, Maggie, and family will be there to launch it, watched on a big screen
A HERO had the send-off he wanted when his ashes were sent skyward as part of a firework display.
Lance Cpl David Kirkness, of the 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died near Sangin in the Helmand province last December, when he bravely put himself in the way of two suicide bombers who were heading for a crowded market.
The 24-year-old, from Hall Green, was killed alongside another soldier while on a security patrol.
Before his death, the former Dane Royd J&I School pupil told his mum Maggie in a letter home, that he wanted to be sent up in a firework over the town hall in Morley, where he had lived since the age of seven.
On Wednesday, his final wish came true when his ashes were sent up in a rocket at the finale of a firework display at Scatcherd Park on the anniversary of his death.
His uncle Stephen Sambrook, 55, of Moorside Crescent, said: “He originally said he wanted someone to skydive with his ashes, but then came up with this idea.
“It was absolutely brilliant and all we could’ve hoped for, but very emotional too because it was the final farewell.”
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