THE mother of an RNLI volunteer who passed away at age 31 has said that her son's death was a "massive blow to the family."

Christopher Lyons suddenly died on December 23, 2023 during emergency surgery at the Bristol Heart Institute after a problem with his heart was discovered only the evening before.

A celebration of his life was held on Friday, January 19.

In a letter written to the Weston Mercury, Christopher's mother, Crista Murray, wrote: "Chris leaves his partner Laura, his son Jenson aged 11 and Laura's daughter Izzy aged six.

Weston Mercury: Christopher passed away unexpectedly.Christopher passed away unexpectedly. (Image: Crista Murray)

"Laura was also a crew member at Weston RNLI, me his mum is a water safety advisor at Weston RNLI. His Uncle Matt Davies is launch operations manager at Burnham-on-Sea RNLI. He also leaves a sister Jess and brothers Jamie and George.

"Like most 31-year-olds he had not planned, saved or even thought of a funeral so this happening was a massive blow to a family that had just bought their first home in Weston.

"We reached out to local companies knowing that we needed somewhere large and local to hold the celebration of Chris' life. I looked at Weston Piers' website and thought it just was not a place we could hire in our budget - I threw caution to the wind and thought an email costs nothing so just dropped the events planner Zoe Loveridge an email.

"They replied instantly and even from then they said the hire charges would be waived and just the food to be covered. They will never know how much all their help means to us as a family - they were able to serve fish and chips at the celebration and we were able to look out to sea and see the lifeboat station - just as Chris would have loved.

"They lit the Pier in the evening in RNLI colours. I want to thank everyone at the Pier for all they have done - especially Zoe and her team.

"We as a family will be eternally grateful to the RNLI family - they spent many hours cleaning boats, making plans, making coffee and the hours spent in the baltic cold on the day of the funeral lining the route of the church and the crematorium. We as a family thank them.

Weston Mercury: The pier lit up in Chris' memory.The pier lit up in Chris' memory. (Image: Crista Murray)

"I cannot write this without thanking Ashley Edwards funeral directors from Highbridge. He has been a rock at the end of phone and giving us a faultless run like clockwork funeral - despite the many changes we threw at him on a daily basis.

"To the Reverend Adrian - he travelled from Morecambe, Lancashire to officiate the service, he has previously been the Reverend at Weston RNLI.

"Also present and helping to make the convoy:

  • South Western Ambulance Service motorcycle - I myself work for the service in their control room and other staff attended the funeral;
  • Avon Fire and Rescue Engine;
  • Avon & Somerset Police;
  • Weston RNLI;
  • Burnham On sea RNLI;
  • Portishead RNLI;
  • HM Coastguard;
  • Weston Beach Rangers;
  • Weston Recovery - Chris was operations manager here;
  • WTTS;
  • Hinwood Auto Services;
  • AJ Autos;
  • RAC;
  • Slades;
  • Colley Lane Recovery;
  • MJL Continental Haulage.