From Newcastle Year Abroad students

These messages were posted on the Newcastle University Modern Languages School BlackBoard Community by the Year Abroad students.

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For Max:

I am writing with regards to the tragic and totally devastating news of Max's death. Things like these are so hard to understand and instead of feeling depressed and angry (which I'm sure we all are) I would like to take this opportunity for us to come together and celebrate what we remember of Max and how great he was.

I would have considered myself quite a good friend and find this news particularly hard to deal with knowing what kind of person Max was. We are all on our year abroad primarily to improve our language skills but also to make the most of the opportunity we have to live in a different country and embrace its culture. This makes things really tough as Max was without a doubt the type of person who the year abroad was made for and totally suited to. I will always remember him for his bubbly, witty personality and his outgoing nature (not to mention his ability to the life and soul of manys a party!) but also his caring side as a mate when you just wanted a chat. He will always remain one of the coolest people I have met and thats how I'll remember him.

I think it would be really great of anybody who knew him (even remotely) would post whatever memories or thoughts they have about him on the website.

All my thoughts and prayers go to his loved ones,

thanks,

Laura Taggart.

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I didn´t know Max all that well, but he was in my Spanish language class last year, and I had just recently joined him in Cadiz for this semester.

I had heard of someone´s death during the Carnaval celebrations on Saturday night but didn´t find out till Monday that it was Max. I was very shocked as I had seen him a few times and was speaking to him at Uni and then on a night out just a few days before. Although I don´t know him very well, I totally agree with Laura´s posting, he was indeed very friendly and outgoing and from what I had seen and heard was very popular here with both fellow Erasmus and local students. He will be greatly missed by everyone that knows him.

Halinka (Hedja-Morrison)

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I'm so shocked at the horrible news of Max's death. He was a lovely bloke who I had the pleasure of sitting with in a lot of lectures during my first two years at uni. He was a guy that I looked up to a lot when I arrived at Newcastle as he passed on his experiences of his first year before he changed course. He seemed almost impossibly laid-back and easy-going and when you spoke with him you knew you were either in for a really good laugh or an interesting conversation. Most importantly for me he was always a bloke who really listened to you when you were talking and was always completely genuine when he responded, which is an amazingly rare quality but obviously came to him very naturally.

It makes me very sad to think we won't be able to share our experiences of our years abroad with Max because no doubt he would have had some great stories to tell.

My thoughts are with his family and with everyone else who's been effected by the horrible news.

Tim (Wynn-Jones)

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I feel so lucky to have got to know Max a little over the past two years, and though I didn't see him often enough, I know that I will miss him making me laugh, and I will miss the way he always spoke and listened as if you were genuinely the most interesting person around.

Max was such a beautiful person - he was lovely, kind, funny and caring, and he was one of those blessed people who was able to convey this the moment you met him. I am sure everyone who met him will only have good to say of him, and that those memories, which make it so painful now, are the ones that will outlast everything.

Max was so full of life and sparkling with laughter that it makes it even more poignant and absurd that the only way I can begin to approach his death is by somehow accepting that this is what has been cut short. The horrible randomness and shock of the moment is so much worse knowing that everything anyone could possibly say is futile, and I know that nothing I can say will be big enough to express the person Max was, and how big his loss will be to everyone who loved him.

My thoughts are with all those who were lucky enough to have know him even better and longer, and most especially with his family, who will be in my prayers.

Monica (Mark)

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I am so shocked about this absolutly tragic news.

I knew Max through Film studies and Spanish, and just like everyone has said, he really did stand out. An incredible energy, warmth, intelligence and friendliness sparked off him and everyone who had the chance to know him and share his brightness will always remember him this way.

My deepest sincerest sympathies and thoughts are with his family.

Olivia (Vesey)

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I got to know Max through film studies and he is honestly one of the friendliest people ive ever met. I remember discussing our year abroad and how we were looking forward to it. This is a terrible tragedy but Max always lived life to the full and I am sure, as he said he would, he enjoyed his time abroad.

Max will be greatly missed and my thoughts are with his family and close friends.

Cat (Mathers)

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I did not know Max very well but I did know him enough to realise what a geniunely lovely person he was. He was in my Spanish class last year and he was such a friendly guy, I used to see him regularly around uni and he would always stop for a chat. What has happened to him is such an awful tragedy and my heart goes out to all his loved ones at this time.

Max will be dearly missed by so many people but he will always be remembered for his energetic and lovely personality. He was an amazing guy and he will never be forgotten.

My thoughts are with all his loved ones and with everyone who has been affected by Max´s death.

Stephanie Gannon

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I was also in Spanish seminar with Max and I'm sure everyone who was in it would agree that he somehow managed to relax the group and give it a good atmosphere just by being there. He was confident with himself, and wouldn't hesitate to come out with witty and original comments which used to make everybody laugh, including the lecturer. He had a really clever sense of humour and seemed to be able to instantly put people at ease. Max was evidently someone who would talk to anyone, and they'd want to get to know him better. He was always smiling and would have obviously been having a brilliant time abroad, which makes this terrible sudden accident all the more confusing to accept.

My sincerest condolences to Max's family and close friends for their unthinkable loss, Max will be sorely missed by everyone but the fond memories that people have of him will live on.

Ellie Watson

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Although all of us from Newcastle had only really just arrived here in Cadiz for the second semester & not had the chance to get to know Max as well as we would've liked, we've all been extremely shocked & saddened by his death. Max was obviously very popular here in Cadiz and it seemed everyone knew him and he will certainly be greatly missed. We thought people might like to know a memorial service is being held tomorrow at the university here, which we will all be attending. Flowers have been left at the place Max died and we have laid some on behalf of all of his friends from Newcastle.

All our prayers are with Max's family & friends,

Gemma (Sale), Helen (Turner), Jenny (Williams), Faye (Shaw) & Caroline (Burgess)