The Jay Slater saga ended 4 months ago, but it turns out the GoFundMe set up by his family has been running as normal, and has made a further £10,000 in the time since we blogged about Jay Slater’s funeral in July.
Well, Jay Slater’s mum has issued one final update on the GoFundMe page as the family take the decision to finally close it down with £72,000 collected. Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan, 56, had this to say to everyone who donated:
“We would like to thank all you beautiful people who supported us throughout this heartbreaking time. Jay really did touch the hearts of the nation and it truly showed us how much love you all shared with us.
“With your support we were able to stay in Tenerife until we got our beautiful boy back to the UK.” She said the money raised through GoFundMe helped the family fund the Signi search team from the Netherlands who supported the family throughout the days when Jay was found. Jay truly deserved the send off we were able to give him and we thank you all for that.
“We have been overwhelmed with messages of support from all over the globe and will be eternally grateful to all of you. Our journey of trauma and grief will continue for ever and we will never recover. We lost our beautiful boy in extremely tragic circumstances whilst the world watched. We do not and will never understand how Jay’s story reached every corner of the globe.
“Our journey is far from over but the burdens eased with your support. We would also like to thank the person who looked after Jay’s fundraiser page whom we have been in constant contact with, especially whilst in Tenerife, the support and advice you gave will not be forgotten. Donations will be turned off with this final message. Jay’s family and friends are trying to come to terms and process this tragic loss and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Jay Slater accidentally fell to his death while attempting an 11-hour trek back to his hotel through a dangerous ravine near the village of Masca in Tenerife. The story dominated headlines at the start of the summer and there were all kinds of twists and turns and crazy conspiracies theories around it. Which must have been pretty tough for Debbie and all of Jay’s family and friends to deal with.
Still, it’s surprising that the GoFundMe was still open and collecting donations so long after the story left the news cycle. In fact, the latest donation was just 13 days ago! Which means they could have probably kept it open even longer and continued to make a bit of cash heading into Christmas and beyond.
I suppose closing the page must have been emotional in itself, as it’s another chapter closed on their ordeal. All the best Debbie and the Slater family as they continue to come to terms with their loss.
For the man who was found being held captive by his next door neighbour after missing for 27 years (!), click HERE.
