Tributes to road accident victim

"A special man taken from us all too early"

CARS were said to have been the beloved hobby of road crash victim Gavin Farquhar's life, mourners at his funeral service were told yesterday.
He was always working on his Ford Focus SD, and hardly a day went by, but a motor part would arrive at his home in Reiss, from eBay, or some other supplier, Rev John Nugent told mourners who crowded into Wick St Fergus Church, to say farewell to him.
Mr Farquhar, a welder, of Plover Place, Reiss, died just over a week ago, when the car in which he was a passenger left the road near Quoys of Reiss Farm, a mile south of the Caithness village of Keiss. His best friend, Marc McDonald, was driving the black Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. They two had just attended the funeral of Mr McDonald's grandmother in Wick.
He survived and was taken to Caithness General Hospital with multiple injuries. A message he posted on his Facebook site, later, said that he was awaiting a spine brace to be fitted to allow him to get out of bed.
Mourners were starting to gather at the church, more than three quarters of an hour before the service was due to start and
Rev. Nugent said that the "magnificent" attendance underlined the popularity of a "special" man who, "although taken from us far too early, but had impacted on the lives of so many people"
The minister said that the greatest love for Thurso-born Mr Farquhar, was his family.
Mr Farquhar, who worked in Shetland most recently, had also been employed in Norway and Spain during his career.
Following the service, he was laid to rest at Wick cemetery.
The police investigation into the accident is continuing and officers have appealed for anyone who might have witnessed the accident or seen the car prior to it.
The crash closed the road for eight hours and traffic was diverted via Wester.