WHEN 17-year-old Tony Ballard died so tragically last month after swimming in the river Severn at Worcester we said we hoped his parents would be able to find comfort in their faith.

We are sure local vicar Duncan and his wife Ellie will do so.

We are equally sure they may already have found comfort in their darkest hours from the huge outpouring of love and affection there has been for their son since his untimely death.

Many people left tributes to Tony on our website and a special Facebook page set up in his memory now has more than 960 members.

The huge numbers of young people in colourful clothing who attended the teenager’s funeral at the cathedral yesterday was testament to the positive impact Tony made on other people during his short life.

The funeral service was warm and moving and reflected well on a young man who clearly had a huge zest for life.

It is, of course, desperately sad that the life of such a popular, loved and liked person can be ended in such a tragic way.

But if a life can be measured by friendships or by the other lives touched during its span then Tony Ballard achieved more in 17 short years than many of us will achieve in decades.

That is something of which those closest to Tony can be hugely proud.