The mother of Jay Slater has revealed what money raised on the family’s fundraising page will be used for as cruel trolls questioned whether they need further financial support.
Writing on the GoFundMe page on Thursday, Debbie Duncan said the family would be spending the funds, which have now risen to over £62,000, on repatriation and funeral costs.
She said they were “overwhelmed with grief”, and “want to give our boy the send-off he deserves”, after the body of the holidaying teenager was found in remote area of Tenerife, near the village of Masca.
But the update was met with backlash, prompting LBT Global, a charity providing support for British nationals missing, killed or in crisis overseas, to call for end to the “hateful” messages.
“Today again we are seeing vast amounts of hateful content online, regarding the family asking for more donations to help give Jay a really good send off,” the charity who are helping the family said yesterday.
They added: “This hate comes from people who, I assume, have never had to repatriate a deceased loved one. Those costs can top £20k easily.
“These people probably haven’t had to arrange their own child’s funeral, nor felt the need to make it the biggest and best they can as it’s the last thing they’ll ever do for their child.”
Detailing the various outlays the family have had to shoulder, the charity said search and rescue charities that have helped the family have had donations and costs covered, as was the family’s accommodation in Tenerife as they nervously waited for updates.
“They are very kindly making a donation to us for the support we have given, support which is outside of that we are funded to do,” the charity said, adding: “When you add that up there is very little spare from £60k.
Taking aim at online trolls, the charity said the amoung was, “Certainly not enough to ‘line her pockets’, ‘set her up for life’ or even ‘cover her duty free’.
He had shared a Snapchat video from the Casa Abuela Tina property, near the village of Masca, just before his final phone call to his friend Lucy Law.
On Wednesday Jay’s family left tributes on the dirt track not far from the perilous ravine where his body was found. Bouquets of blue and white flowers were left with heartfelt messages from Debbie Duncan, as well as Jay’s father Warren Slater and older brother Zak.
In a note accompanying some flowers, the teenager’s devastated mother Debbie wrote: “To my beautiful boy, I am so sorry we never found you. I miss you so much. You will be forever young and forever missed. Mum xxx”.