A Gateshead family is appealing for help to bring an 'amazing, selfless' 25-year-old home, after he drowned in Spain while rescuing his dog from a river.
Paul Lebihan, from Leam Lane, died on Monday after getting into trouble in the Bolulla River, near Benidorm, after successfully freeing the dog from the current. Now his family has launched a fundraising appeal to help bring Paul's body back home and give him the memorial he deserves.
Paul's cousin, Kallym Bell, launched a GoFundMe page in support of Paul's parents, Deborah and Paul Snr. In less than 24 hours the page had already raised over £7,000, with hundreds of people leaving comments paying tribute to 'one of nicest men you could ever meet'.
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Keen amateur boxer Paul was well known by many people across the Leam Lane Estate, and beloved by colleagues from the several years he spent working in the navy. Kallym, 19, called Paul: "[A]n amazing, selfless man with a heart of gold, always the biggest laugh and the very best to be around."
He told ChronicleLive: "He loved being around people, he was very sociable. He loved his boxing, he was a talented boxer, and he loved going out with his friends. He was a very popular kid, very loved."
Questions still remain for the family around the exact circumstances of Paul's death, and his mother Deborah has now flown out to Spain to collect her son's body - but faces hefty costs to fly him home. Kallym thanked everyone who had contributed to the fundraiser to support the devastated parents and said that any donation, however small, was 'appreciated' and would help bring the much-loved young man home.
He added: "It still hasn't really sunk in, I can't even believe it. We just want him back: he was always on this estate, there's a massive family of us living here and we all grew up around here together and all the family who've died are buried around here. Our family has been in Leam Lane since the estate was built and we want to bring Paul back.
"There's obviously the cost of transporting him back and then the funeral as well. Paul deserves a good funeral, he did a lot for other people and people's donations show that he was very loved.
"He was very selfless - saving the dog shows that. He would do anything for anyone, it's the same with his time in the Navy, it shows how he was willing to put himself before others."
Donations can be made to help bring Paul home at https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-remembrance-of-paul-lebihan
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