Clutching onto balloons and lighting candles, hundreds turned out to remember a 'smart, talented and loving' teenager whose life ended far too soon.
A broken Manchester community embraced one another as heartbreaking tributes were paid to schoolboy Eric Lin. Eric, who had been reported missing from the Beswick area of Manchester on the evening of July 2, was tragically found dead days later, on July 6. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. The teenager, who was just 14 was found in the Manchester Ship Canal in Stockton Heath, near the Moor Nature Reserve.
A week after his death, on Thursday evening (July 13), crowds came out in their hundreds to mourn the loss of Eric, who was a student at the Co-op Academy in Failsworth and described as having a 'big heart and a cheeky smile'.
The streets outside the school turned into a sea of blue, as balloons with heartfelt written tributes and flowers were tied to the railings and his school peers, along with their parents, cradled one another. "Fly high", "14 - forever young" and "you will forever be in my heart" were just some of the tributes left on handwritten cards, banners and balloons that swayed gently in the wind.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk