THE family of a man from Barmouth who died suddenly have thanked the community for their support.

Christian Kavanagh died on Sunday, 23 April. He was just 42 years old.

His partner, Cathy Berridge, who found Christian unresponsive at home, has been left devastated.

Cathy’s mother, Jenny Berridge, has turned to the Cambrian News to thank everyone for their help and support since Christian’s death, and pay tribute to the Barmouth man.

“He was a great guy who was so loving and caring,” Jenny said.

Cathy found Christian on Sunday morning, 23 April.

“Cathy returned to her house in Barmouth to find her partner of five years dead on the kitchen floor,” said Jenny.

“She rang for an ambulance, did everything she was told to do, but she knew he had gone.”

“She came to get us; we tried, but we knew he had passed away.

“We didn’t wait long for it [the ambulance] to come. The two paramedics were so good with Cathy. We can’t thank them enough.

“Cathy’s heart was broken; they were a real love story.”

Jenny added: “Cathy’s sister, Cerrie Lane, and her best friend, Samantha Porter, set up a GoFundMe page to help them cover the costs of the funeral.

“Within a few hours, the page had received £4,000 in donations. By the time of the funeral on 15 May, donations totalled £7,800.”

The sun shone bright in the blue sky on the day of the funeral. It went exactly how Cathy hoped. St John’s church was filled with family, friends and many members of the community.

Jenny said: “We as a family are shocked that everyone came together and made it a perfect day for Chris. It all went just as Cathy wanted it. The sun was shining, it was beautiful.

“Barmouth community has been amazing, all people far and wide were so caring, loving and so supportive. Christian’s family all came up from Cardiff too. They were the most loving people, all down to earth.”

The family set up a Facebook page to thank everyone for their support.

Knowing some people are not on the site, they also reached out to the Cambrian News to share their thanks with the community, family and friends, as well as those who held the service, including the undertaker, Glyn Rees and his son Dylan.

A collection on the day of the funeral raised £452 for the air ambulance.