Damien Nettles

“As a baby Damien was just scrumptious and loving. An endearing child. A character! He loved his big sister Sarah and he followed her everywhere. He would ask me for juice and I would say “just a minute”. He held up his orange cup and started saying instead “juice a minute mama”. He warmed our hearts. He was always a joker. He wanted to make people laugh. There wasn’t a malicious bone in his body.

He was a dedicated musician. He loved to play the guitar and taught himself to play. He joined a band and they jammed and he loved it. He wrote lyrics and spent time listening to all kinds of music from the classical to the Beatles to current music. He was sensitive, caring and loving and thoughtful. He would help the underdog. Sometimes to his own disadvantage.

He liked to help people and since he went missing many school friends remember kind deeds he did. He helped Sarah study for her A-Level final and she went on to the university in Portsmouth. He became serious with his desire to do well on his exams and go to university. He talked about doing marine biology. We saw a commitment in him to go forward in life and have a career and future. We saw him develop into a promising unique individual.

Damien disappeared from our lives on the 2nd November 1996 when he was just 16. A moment in time altered the fate of our loved one. We face a life forever changed. We may never know what led up to that moment.

That’s where the anguish lives.

We will never let go of the light of the hope that someday we will get answers to sooth our tortured souls. We try to follow the light with positivity and hope that one day truth will shine on us.”

Val Nettles