Funeral Held For Nevin Spence, Ulster Rugby Star Who Died In Slurry Tank With Father And Brother

Funeral Held For Young Rugby Star Killed In Slurry Tank

The funeral for a star rugby player who was killed along with his brother and father after inhaling fumes from a tank of slurry was held in an emotional memorial on Wednesday.

The sister of Ulster Rugby player Nevin Spence twice climbed into the slurry tank on the family farm to try and rescue her brothers and fathers, but struggled in vain.

Miss Spence, who was admitted to hospital after Saturday's accident but paid tribute to her family at the service near Hillsborough, Co Down.

Nevin Spence was a young rugby star who was killed with his father and brother after inhaling fumes from the slurry tank

"They were gentlemen," Miss Spence told mourners at nearby Ballynahinch Baptist Church.

She said her father Noel, 58, and brothers Graham, 30, and Nevin 22, were hard-working men.

"They were not perfect but they were genuine. They were best friends," she said.

"They were Godly men - they didn't talk about God, they just did God.

"They were just ordinary, but God made them extraordinary."

She was accompanied by her sister Laura, their mother Essie and Graham's wife Andrea at the funeral service.

The family family in county Down, where a father and his two sons were killed after falling into a slurry tank

Members of the Ulster Rugby team carried Nevin's coffin into and out of the church.

Irish rugby coach Declan Kidney and Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte were among other well-known sporting faces amid more than 2,000 people who attended.

It is understood the tragedy unfolded when Graham lowered a ladder into the manhole to retrieve a pet dog which disappeared into the slurry tank.

Graham's father then went in to try to save his son and he was followed by Nevin when he realised the other two were in danger from the poisonous slurry fumes.

Miss Spence, an artist, then went down and managed to pull her father onto the ladder where she was assisted by neighbours.

They immediately tried to resuscitate Noel. Miss Spence then went back a second time and found Graham in the tank lying in two to three feet of slurry.

But she was then overcome by the odourless fumes and had to be pulled free by the frantic neighbours who ran to the tank after hearing the calls for help.

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