Hundreds attend Alfie Gray’s funeral in Sussex town centre

Hundreds of people attended a funeral procession for a seven-year-old Crawley boy who drowned while on a family holiday.
Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154734001Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154734001
Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154734001

Crawley town centre was a ‘sea of red’ today (August 7) as people wearing red football shirts paid their respects to Crawley Town Boys player, Alfie Gray.

Church bells rang as his hearse was escorted by three silver cars and police into The Friary church in Haslett Avenue West at around 2pm.

A passer-by said it was like a celebrity wedding.

Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154723001Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154723001
Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154723001
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She said: “There were hundreds of people with football shirts.

“It was a sea of red.

“The church bells were ringing.

“The flowers were unbelievable.”

Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154932001Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154932001
Funeral of young boy Alfie (Pic by Jon Rigby) SUS-150708-154932001

Alfie Gray, who played for Crawley Town Boys football club’s under-7s, was on a family in Egypt when he drowned in a swimming pool.

He was taken to hospital from the Reef Oasis Beach Resort, Sharm El Sheikh, but died on July 7.

Jason Edwards, a spokesman for travel agent Holiday Gems, said: “Needless to say the family is absolutely devastated - we are in regular contact with them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“A full and thorough investigation is currently being carried out into the circumstances leading to this tragic accident.

“Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with the entire family at this extremely sad time.

“Holiday Gems are currently providing full support and assistance to the family and are working closely with the tour operator, the local authorities and the hotel management.”

Tributes have been paid and Alfie’s teammates held a one minute silence before taking part in a football tournament in Maidenbower Park on July 11.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He played in the Furngate Sixes football tournament the Saturday before.

It was reported his family left for Egypt the day before Alfie drowned.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.

Related topics: