Shropshire Star

Summer Robertson tragedy: Family remember infectious laugh

She was the bubbly tomboy who could hold her own in anyone's company and whose presence - and infectious laugh - could light up a room.

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But Summer Robertson's life was tragically cut short during her trip of a lifetime as a volunteer working with deprived youngsters in one of South Africa's poorest townships.

Her father John, a 51-year-old works foreman, says she spoke to him on the day she died.

"I spoke to her that Thursday morning," he said. "She said everything was great, they had finished their work and were having a few days relaxing before they came home.

"I was due to pick her up on the Tuesday. She contacted us at least once a week with Whatsapp, she said she was living the dream."

Sarah adds: "She said it was the most beautiful place on earth."

The couple both thought Summer would prepare for her next trip abroad when she got back.

John says: "The way she said how much it had changed the way she thought about life, and how much she had enjoyed it, we thought she would be off somewhere else. It opened her eyes to the big world out there."

Summer decided to embark on the mission with the Lattitude youth volunteering group after hearing an advertisement on the radio.

"She asked at work if she could take the time off, because she didn't want to give up her job," says Sarah, who is 48.

"They agreed she could have 10 weeks off unpaid."

Sarah says she had no worries about Summer taking part in the trip, but John did warn her to stay out of the sea, knowing she was not a confident swimmer.

"She was only paddling though, in shallow water," he says.

Sarah says Summer made friends with the other members of the group before the trip had even begun.

"They had this training day, and she came home and said she was going up to stay with one of the friends she had made. I said 'you haven't even known her for 24 hours', but that was Summer, she just loved being with her friends."

John describes the night when he was told of Summer's death.

"Two policemen came to the door at 11.30 at night, and I knew straight away," he says.

"I knew it would either Summer or our son Sam, who was living in digs in Birmingham at the time while at university. As soon as they said Summer's name I knew something had happened."

As a teenager Summer played football for Shrewsbury Juniors – in the same team as the boys – and even played alongside Wolves star Jack Price at Shrewsbury Town's former Gay Meadow stadium, when they both played for Harlescott Junior School under-10s, in the final of the County Cup.

"She was in Jack's class at school," says Sarah. "They were both the same age, and they stayed in touch afterwards."

She also loved to play football with her older brothers Michael, who is 27, and Sam, 23.

Summer made the pages of the Shropshire Star at the age of five, when she won a competition to name the cat used in the Tesco "Schoolnet" promotion, and was presented with a CD Rom encyclopedia at the store in Harlescott, Shrewsbury.

After leaving Sundorne School, she sat her A-levels at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, but decided against going to university because she wanted to get some experience in the workplace.

Then, just over two years ago, she landed her dream job as an apprentice in the parts department at Hatfields Jaguar in Shrewsbury.

"She loved cars. She was a bit of a petrolhead," says Sarah.

"She had bought her first brand new car last year, it was a Fiat Punto special edition with blacked-out windows, it was her pride and joy. Before that she had two other cars and three scooters."

John adds that she shared his passion for motorcycles.

Sarah said that when Summer applied to work at Hatfields, there were more than 100 candidates for the post, but they were so impressed with Summer's attitude that they decided to create a extra vacancy.

"She was the only girl in the department, but she was quite happy working in a male-dominated environment. She could hold her own with anyone."

During her time there, Summer came up with the idea of setting up a shop on the eBay website to sell off unwanted stock.

Summer and fellow apprentice Emily Jones joined colleagues at Hatfields for the 2013 Christmas Toy Run, delivering toys to terminally-ill children at the Hope House children's hospice in Oswestry.

Sarah says Hatfields brand manager Craig Petty has been hugely supportive to the family since the tragedy.

"He has been outstanding, he has even arranged a car to chauffeur us if we've had to go to a meeting."

The family launched an appeal to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind as a tribute to Summer, and they have been overwhelmed by the response.

"Summer loved helping people and had a passion for animals," says Sarah.

"We wanted to find a charity that would combine the two."We originally set a target of raising £5,000 in 12 months, but we did that in just three weeks. We then increased it to £10,000, which would allow us to name a puppy after Summer, and receive regular photographs and updates through the dog's training."

Around 500 people turned out for Summer's funeral at ShrewsburyAbbey, and donated £1,500 to the appeal through the collection. Colin Jones, who runs Stained Class Tattoos in Shrewsbury, donated a further £1,500, and a group of friends calling themselves Summer's Sunshine Squad are in the process of collecting more than £1,500 from a "spinathon" session at a gym in the town.

A jumble sale raised another £1,700, while friends Bev and Markie (COR) Roberts raised another £150 by going a month without alcohol as part of the Dry January campaign.

  • To support the Summer Robertson guide dog appeal see the website www.justgiving.com/summersunshine

Summer's cousin Leah Welsby, and her friends Mia and Jasmine Evans, both aged 12, raised a further £200 by walking people's dogs, while Jack Price has also donated £500.

Sarah says: "Jack's was the largest single donation, whilst at the opposite end of the spectrum we had a little five-year-old donate her £3 pocket money."

John and Sarah say their loss has caused them both to reflect on life, and has changed their outlook.

"While she was out there, she had a journal she was supposed to fill in, and we only learned about that when it came back with her belongings," says Sarah.

"In it she said she didn't realise that people who had so little had also got so much, and how rich you could be without having any money. It was quite emotional when we read that."

While they are heartbroken from Summer's untimely death, the couple say they take great comfort from the fact that she died doing something she loved, and are determined to take something positive from the situation.

Sarah says: "If it hadn't been for what happened, we wouldn't be fundraising now.

"It has motivated us to want to do something positive in her memory."

She adds that the tragedy has also put life's day-to-day problems in perspective.

"We've decided to take a leaf out of Summer's book, and not take life so seriously," says Sarah.

"Now, I don't mind so much if the phone doesn't work. There's more to life than worrying about work and paying the mortgage.

"That's only stuff, as Summer would say."

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