LETTER: ‘A very special man indeed’

I now live in Saltdean but lived as a child in Shoreham before growing up in Lancing.
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Like so many others, I was shocked by the Shoreham air crash and followed events closely. Early on, I saw an article from a friend of Matt Jones saying how hopeless they felt and that all they can do is to pay tribute to Matt.

As someone who has watched from a distance, all I can say is how brilliantly they have done this – from the Instagram tribute to the masses of flowers, pictures and messages left for Matt on the Bridge of Flowers, spelling out for the rest of us who never knew Matt but who wanted to know about him just who he was and what he was about and that how much poorer we were for not having known him.

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And, finally, this incredible, staggering bridge of ribbons.

I was on the toll bridge on Thursday afternoon and although I understood why the flowers and messages had been removed I felt sad that the bridge was bare.

When the television pictures were shown the next day, I was blown away by what had been done.

Now I have been back to the bridge and seen it for myself. I count it as one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

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I cannot even begin to understand what Matt’s family and friends are going through at the moment but to have those feelings and to still come out and lay on this tribute of ribbons is something that is almost beyond belief.

It has been said that one of the measures of a man is the quality of the friends he is able to make during the course of his life.

Judged by that measure alone, let alone everything else he crammed into his life, Matt Jones was clearly a very special man.

David William Routley

Lustrells Vale

Saltdean

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