HUNDREDS of people have paid tribute to a popular young man who was killed on New Year’s Day, his mother has revealed.
Michael Ian Gallagher, 17, of Denbigh, died after being hit by a car in the early hours of New Year’s Day in Gwersyllt, Wrexham.
Speaking from her home on Llys Tudur, Denbigh, Ian’s mother Andrea movingly spoke of how the family had been inundated with hundreds of cards and letters.
Donations have also flooded in, with the family revealing more than £1,000 has so far been raised which is likely to go to the critical care unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
Mrs Gallagher said she and her husband Alan and the rest of the family, including Ian’s grandparents who live in Caerwys, had been overwhelmed by the tributes that have flooded in.
“We have been absolutely inundated with cards and letters,” she said.
“We want to say thank you. We would have liked to have been able to sit down and reply to everybody but there have been just so many.
“We are all very grateful for the response we have had from so many different people.
“It has been a very difficult three weeks for us but the support we have received has been a big help.”
Mrs Gallagher revealed the family had not realised until after Ian died just how popular he was, with scores of friendships having been established across North Wales.
Hundreds of people attended Ian’s funeral at St Marcella’s Church, Denbigh.
“We did not realise just how popular he was,” she said. “He clearly had a very wide circle of friends.
“There have been hundreds and hundreds of tributes. It means so much.
“We have been shattered by what has happened but the one positive thing to come out of it all is the support we have received.”
Mrs Gallagher also thanked the Motivational Preparation College for Training in Wrexham, where Ian was a member, for its support.
Ian left several close family. As well as his parents, he leaves brother Phillip, sister Beth, sister-in-law Becca, baby nephew Riley Jay and a wide number of other relatives.
More than 400 people have joined a group in Ian’s memory on Facebook, with tributes still being made three weeks after his death.