A special memorial bench to remember a rugby student from Lancaster has been unveiled.
18-year-old Zak Elderton passed away earlier this year, following a road traffic collision.
Zak played for the Vale of Lune rugby club in Lancaster and was described by them as "a sportsman of considerable ability".
Zak died in March after a road crash in Brookhouse near Lancaster, just hours after he played for the Vale of Lune A team.
He played for the Vale through all levels of the Mini, Junior and Colt sections.
He was also a student at Myerscough College, near Garstang, where this week a memorial bench in his honour was unveiled.
In the summer, a group of his friends and students walked 23 miles to raise money to purchase the memorial bench in his memory, raising more than £2,500.
This week, the bench was officially unveiled, and members of Zak’s family invited to receive one of Zak’s shirts, that had been specially framed.
Zak’s bench takes pride of place overlooking the main rugby pitch at Myerscough’s main Bilsborrow campus.
The inscription on the bench reads: ‘’In memory of Zak Elderton (Reggie). Those we miss don’t go away, they play beside us every day. Rest in peace #4Zak13.’’
In a tribute, Myerscough College said: ‘’We will remember Zak as a most pleasant young man, always respectful, kind and polite and an absolute credit to his family.
‘’Zak loved playing rugby for the College and had a real flair for it. He always wanted the best for himself and the team and was always motivated to improve and win. After every training session or match he would ask ‘how can I get better, what do I need to do, what can I work on?’. He was determined not to let his team and the coaches down and gave everything he could while playing for the College.''
‘’Zak was a great pleasure to teach and coach and we will be forever grateful to Zak for his efforts and determination both on and off the pitch. We will all miss his strength of character, sense of fun, warmth and can-do attitude. Zak was a true character who will be sadly missed by us all.
‘’Our rugby students are now even more determined to go out and win their remaining fixtures this year in memory of Zak – to show up individually and collectively and do their best, just as Zak did every day.
‘’We are incredibly proud of the young man Zak had become. He was a great ambassador for Myerscough Rugby and for the College as a whole.’’
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