Grieving family raise thousands in memory of four-year-old son who died in tragic holiday accident
Edward Massey passed away hours after arriving for a holiday on the Spanish island of Tenerife
The grieving family of a four-year-old who died in a tragic accident hours after arriving for a holiday in Tenerife have raised thousands in his memory as they cherish the life of "the happiest young boy."
Edward Massey passed away hours after arriving on the Spanish island in May 2025, following a tragic accident involving a swimming pool, devastating the lives of his parents Joanne and Richard and his loving older sister Victoria.
Speaking to Belfast Live, his heartbroken mum Joanne said their lives will never be the same again but takes solace in knowing that Edward had lived such a happy life, making friends wherever he went and always having a big smile on his face.
Joanne said: "When you have young children, you worry about them constantly, keeping them safe and away from danger. We never imagined that we could lose our little boy like that. It has destroyed our lives.
"I am just glad to know that during the four years that he was with us, Edward was the happiest wee boy, he just loved everyone that he met, always had a beautiful smile on his face and wanted to take part in everything that he could. If it was in God's plan for Edward to be taken from us, God made sure that he had the happiest time on this earth."
Edward was due to celebrate his fifth birthday on Monday, October 13, something he had been looking forward to since the day after he turned four. While Edward won't be able to attend his favourite place Global Adventures for his birthday this year, his family are going to gather there and remember the young boy who brought so much joy into all of their lives.
Joanne said a favourite quote of hers "In laughter and fun, we will remember his love" has helped her.
Ahead of this, the Massey family are raising money for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, who provided invaluable support to them after Edward's passing and took care of everything necessary to get Edward home.
Joanne said: "The day after Edward turned four, he was looking forward to his next birthday. He just had so much fun and knew whenever he turned five; he would be able to join the Boys Brigade.
"We felt that it was important for us to still gather this year on his birthday at his favourite place and while we know it will be very emotional and hard to go through it is the right thing for us to do.
"Ahead of his birthday we setup a fundraiser to support the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust who did everything to help us bring Edward home, hoping to raise something close to what we would have spent on his party and gifts, but we have had a huge response so far with it raising over £1,000 a few hours after being setup and we are very grateful to everyone who has donated."
If you would like to donate to the Massey family's appeal you can do so via this link.
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