Flips and tricks to honour 'perfectionist' skater who died in Shrewsbury river tragedy
Skaters performed flips and tricks in a skating jam to honour their friend who died in a river tragedy.
Skaters performed flips and tricks in a skating jam to honour their friend who died in a river tragedy.
Around 60 skaters turned out to honour Toby Jones, a 31-year-old Shrewsbury man who lost his life after falling into the River Severn earlier this month.
Toby, a branch manager for Huws Gray builders’ merchants, was an avid rollerblader and a “perfectionist” when it came to his skating tricks, according to his mum Shane Game.
She travelled up to Unit 1 Park Works in Stoke-on-Trent for the skating jam in honour of her son.
The event saw a plaque unveiled bearing Toby's name – paid for after his friends set up a fundraiser in the wake of the tragedy.
Despite initially only aiming to raise £100, they were ultimately left with £500 after paying for the plaque, and the rest has been given to Shane, who will look to get a bench named after her son in Shrewsbury's Dingle, or the Quarry.
She had attended the skating jam with other members of her family, including Toby's brothers, and said it was overwhelming to see so many people turning out in his memory – and enjoying the sport he loved.
Toby would travel across the country to skate, making a host of friends in the process.
He also completed a long-held ambition to skate along Venice Beach in Los Angeles – an iconic skating location.
Part of the memorial jam saw the skaters taking part in a competition to see who could pull off the best version of Toby's favourite trick.
Shane said: “It’s such a lovely thing that they’ve done for him. He had lots of friends through skating. He used to go up and down the country. There’s a video of him doing his tricks. He was quite a perfectionist."
Shane said the event had been an emotional tribute, adding: "I thought there might be 10 or 15 people but there are so many more. It is almost like I feel like he is here watching them all, it is what he loved doing and he would have loved this.”
Toby was on a night out in Shrewsbury on Friday, April 1, when he fell into the river in Frankwell. He was pulled out at Victoria Quay but, sadly, he could not be saved.
He had been spending time with his brothers on the night – firstly at a Chris Ramsey concert and later at bars in the town. Police told his mother that they believe he was trying to use the camera on his phone to see where he was going down by the river under the Welsh Bridge, when he fell in.
Shane said: “I want him to be remembered as the guy who was so happy and loving. His personality was so big. Hundreds of people have said nice things about him.”
His loss meant the family have suffered double heartbreak after his brother, Ben Hughes, died 10 years earlier.
Ben was a talented writer who died of lung failure at the age of 28.
He was born with congenital heart failure, and had a heart and lung transplant in 2007, five years before he died. He penned popular 'Bucket List Ben' blogs in the Shropshire Star, in which he spoke about experiences he wanted to have with the time he had left, and raised awareness for organ donation.
Hundreds of people signed up to be organ donors thanks to his campaign.
Following Ben’s death, Toby set out to live life to the full, and packed in some incredible experiences including driving Lamborghinis with his friend Gary Steer and a 829ft jump from The Strat hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
Toby’s funeral will be held next Thursday, May 5.
The cortege will arrive at Shrewsbury Abbey where a service will be held, followed by interment at Emstrey Crematorium.
Then, a tribute will be held at Shrewsbury Town’s Montgomery Waters Meadow, where videos of Toby will be shown on a big screen.
