Parents pay tribute to tragic Simon

THE grieving parents of a teenager who died after crashing his motorbike into a telegraph pole a matter of metres from his home have paid tribute to his fun-loving attitude and enthusiasm for life.

Simon Cain, known as Cainey to his friends, would have celebrated his 18th birthday later this month but tragedy struck early on Saturday morning.

Simon's parents, Pat, 58 and Derek, 47, were woken in the early hours by one of his friends, who burst into their house to tell them of the accident, in Colchester Road, White Colne.

They followed the ambulance and sat with him until he died at about 7pm on Saturday evening.

He was well known and well loved by his many friends in White Colne, where he lived, and nearby Earls Colne and Halsted, where he had gone to school.

Many of his friends had gathered at the hospital to show their support, for which his family extended their thanks.

Mr Cain said Simon would be remembered by everyone as a generous and friendly person who was always smiling.

He said: “He just liked getting together with his mates and going out, listening to music. He was a bit of a party animal.

“He loved his football too, until he found girls, and was a massive West Ham fan. He recently joined Halstead Town Under 18s football club, scoring a hat-trick in his first game.”

Mr Cain added: “Pat wasn't just his mum, though, she was his best friend. He was mine too.

“All his mates looked up to him, he was the top boy, as many of the tributes have said. He even kept an eye out for the younger lads at school. He always went and asked them how they were doing.

“Everyone knew him. That's just him. That's how people will remember him, with a smile on his face.”

Simon had four older brothers - Grant, 40, Jason, 35, Wayne, 27, and Steven, 19 - and a 21-year-old sister, Laura.

Mr Cain said Simon loved to socialise and spend time with his girlfriend, Chloe, who lived nearby.

According to his mother, Simon, who worked as an off-loader delivering kitchens, was supposed to be going to a friend's 18th birthday party on Saturday night, but the party was cancelled in his memory.

Tributes have been left at the spot where he died by well-wishers, many of whom expressed the gap he will leave in their lives.

Simon had attended Earls Colne Primary School and Ramsey School in nearby Halstead, although he left school to start earning a wage, a work ethic he had shown at an early age.

Mrs Cain said: “I think he was the only paper boy with a chauffer. I took the route out in his name when he was 12 because he wanted to do it so much.

“I would do anything for him. I used to get up at 5am to take him to work. I did that for a long time.”

She said even though Simon was always off doing his own thing, he was a devoted son who did his best to keep in touch and reassure her where he was and what he was doing.

She added that he seemed to survive solely on a diet of large doses of breakfast cereal and fried egg and bacon sandwiches.

Mrs Cain even revealed that he had sent her a text message at about 2am, shortly before he left for home on the fateful journey.

She said: “He did care for his family a lot. He would always phone, was always in touch with us and made sure I always knew where he was. He was just a smiling, content lad.

“We were always proud to have him with us - it was just always nice to have him about.”