Sea of tractors turns out to mark life of schoolboy who died after gig
Massey Fergusons, John Deeres, Zetors and a few David Browns turned out in force to mark the life of a teenager over the weekend.
Matthew McCallan, 15, died from hypothermia on December 4 and should have turned 16 yesterday.
To mark the occasion, tractors from farms across Northern Ireland descended on his home village of Carrickmore for a 15-mile charity run to Dungannon in County Tyrone.
Thousands turned out to watch the procession and joined in to sing Happy Birthday before a balloon release with Forever 15 and the number 16 written on them.
The parade was led by Matthew’s mum, Frances, who said he would have loved the event.
She said: ‘He’s here, having a ball with us. We went to his grave this morning and put flowers on it. I’d a good cry and then just said, “that’s it, this is just a special day for Matthew and I’m going to enjoy it”.’
Grandmother Margaret Ann called the event ‘more sweet than bitter’, adding: ‘The generosity of people is unbelievable. I can’t believe there are this many tractors in Northern Ireland.’
The celebration comes after months of pain for Matthew’s family. Frances said: ‘It’s been awful; horrific. Unless you have lost a child you won’t understand.
‘I’m empty. There’s part of me missing. My whole daily routine has changed. As a person, you’re changed. I’ll never be the person I was again, but I am a different person now and I’m fit for anything to be perfectly honest.
‘Whereas I would have been shy before — doing an interview, I would have hidden away from that — but now, I’m prepared to do anything.
‘I was going to say I can’t believe it [the generosity of everyone], but I can believe it, because there’s good people out there and the support they have given us this past couple of months has been amazing.
‘Matthew’s friends are amazing, I love them coming to the house, and all this today just speaks for itself and what people thought of him.’
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