His family are now trying to raise funds to get him home to St Helens
His family are now trying to raise funds to get him home to St Helens
The family of an “amazing” St Helens dad are desperately trying to raise funds to repatriate his body after he died suddenly in Germany. Derek Buckley, better known by friends and family as Chico, was working away in Germany where he was helping renovate a friend’s property earlier this month when he is believed to have died in his sleep.
His body was found in his room on the morning of Friday, March 27, and his family have been told his cause of death is believed to be heart failure, although his stepdaughter told the ECHO he did not have a pre-existing heart condition. Paying tribute to the 52-year-old dad-of-four, Chico’s stepdaughter Sam Sherwood-Brown said: “He was amazing, he was very kind, very loud and a massive wind-up merchant.
“He wouldn’t stop winding you up until you were screaming at him. He was playful. He was just all of those things. He would do absolutely anything for anyone, especially his family. I know it’s a cliché but it’s who he was. He was a great man.”
Sam, 33, explained how Chico met her mum, Angela, when she was 10 or 11 years old and married shortly after.
She said her stepdad regularly travelled to Germany for work as a contractor, but they are determined to have his body returned to Merseyside “where he belongs”.
Chico’s family have since launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding page in order to raise funds towards repatriating his body back to the UK.
Sam added: “He had no insurance and my mum is disabled so she doesn’t work. As a family, we are just trying to save what we can to get him home and any belongings he had.
“We’ll also put any money left over towards funeral costs but the main thing is to get him home.
“We don’t know how much it will cost to get him home but we don’t think £10,000 will cover it. We’re just waiting on a cost to get him home.”
Sam and her mum Angela are currently in Germany as they wait on the cost of repatriation before they fly home today, Tuesday, March 31.
She said: “Me and my mum have come out to try and sort it out but we’re leaving tonight so that’s why it’s all up in the air. That’s why we’re hoping to have a plan in place.”
Holding back tears, Sam added: “I can’t stress how important it is to get him home.
“Even though he spent so much time here in Germany, he was St Helens through and through. He loved England and loved his family. He would want to be with his family. We just want home.”
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe page has raised £6,255, with a target of £10,000. Sam wrote on the fundraising page: “He is loved so deeply, and his loss has left a huge hole in all of our lives.
“Because he passed away abroad, we are now facing the incredibly difficult and unexpected task of bringing him home to the UK, along with arranging his funeral and returning his belongings.
“Sadly, Chico did not have life insurance, and the costs involved are far beyond what we can manage on our own.
“All we want is to bring him home with dignity and give him the send-off he truly deserves, surrounded by the people who love him.”
