Phil O'Brien
He had his whole life ahead of him.
Paul Jones came to Wigan to mark the beginning of his adult life. He had just turned 18 and decided to celebrate the milestone birthday with his first ever visit to a nightclub.
The journey from his Wrexham home to Wigan on Friday night ended in tragedy as he drowned in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal next to the Wigan Pier Nightspot.
A close friend of the teenager's family, Paul Pemberton, has spoken of the devastation that they and the whole Wrexham community of Rhos have felt.
He said: "The family are in shock and struggling to deal with what has happened.
"They have asked me to say what a wonderful lad Paul was. He had his whole life ahead of him and to have it cut short like this is terrible.
"It was his first night out, he had never been to a club before. He was really fired up and excited about it for weeks beforehand and it was going to be a really big night for him.
"I know (his mum) Gaynor was on pins worrying about him in case something happened, and tragically her worst fears were confirmed."
Mr Jones leaves his mum and dad, Jeff and Gaynor, as well as his 20-year-old sister Stacey.
He was in the second year of an electrical engineering course at Yale College in North Wales.
His parents first heard of the tragedy when they received a phone call at around 3.30am on Saturday informing them that their son had been pulled from the canal and was in hospital.
They were not told the exact details, and faced a grim drive
from North Wales to Wigan Infirmary, only to learn of his death.
Mr Pemberton said: "You can only imagine how that must have been. They were not aware of what was going to face them when they got there. It was terrible for them.
"I have been on holiday with the family and seen Paul swim, he was a strong swimmer, which makes it even more of a shock.
"There have been so many people calling and sending flowers. That is so nice, and something the family really appreciate."
Flowers have also been placed at the spot where he died next to the Orwell pub.
He had come out of the Pier at around 2am and drowned after jumping into the water off a bridge over the canal.
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He had his whole life ahead of him.
Paul Jones came to Wigan to mark the beginning of his adult life. He had just turned 18 and decided to celebrate the milestone birthday with his first ever visit to a nightclub.
The journey from his Wrexham home to Wigan on Friday night ended in tragedy as he drowned in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal next to the Wigan Pier Nightspot.
A close friend of the teenager's family, Paul Pemberton, has spoken of the devastation that they and the whole Wrexham community of Rhos have felt.
He said: "The family are in shock and struggling to deal with what has happened.
"They have asked me to say what a wonderful lad Paul was. He had his whole life ahead of him and to have it cut short like this is terrible.
"It was his first night out, he had never been to a club before. He was really fired up and excited about it for weeks beforehand and it was going to be a really big night for him.
"I know (his mum) Gaynor was on pins worrying about him in case something happened, and tragically her worst fears were confirmed."
Mr Jones leaves his mum and dad, Jeff and Gaynor, as well as his 20-year-old sister Stacey.
He was in the second year of an electrical engineering course at Yale College in North Wales.
His parents first heard of the tragedy when they received a phone call at around 3.30am on Saturday informing them that their son had been pulled from the canal and was in hospital.
They were not told the exact details, and faced a grim drive
from North Wales to Wigan Infirmary, only to learn of his death.
Mr Pemberton said: "You can only imagine how that must have been. They were not aware of what was going to face them when they got there. It was terrible for them.
"I have been on holiday with the family and seen Paul swim, he was a strong swimmer, which makes it even more of a shock.
"There have been so many people calling and sending flowers. That is so nice, and something the family really appreciate."
Flowers have also been placed at the spot where he died next to the Orwell pub.
He had come out of the Pier at around 2am and drowned after jumping into the water off a bridge over the canal.
