Respects paid to student after Cornwall cliff tragedy

Tributes have been pouring in after the death of a Warwick student in Cornwall last weekend.

Matt Pollard, a first-year Engineering student, died after falling 100 feet from cliffs in Helston, near his hometown of Mullion. According to the Coventry Telegraph, he had been attending a masquerade party with friends before he fell at about 2am on Sunday 2nd May.

Matt landed on rocks and, despite being airlifted to hospital in Truro in a critical condition, died later on Sunday.

A Devon and Cornwall police spokesman described Matt’s death as a “tragic incident”: “We are not treating the death as suspicious and the matter has been referred to the Coroner.”

The Telegraph reports that a friend of Matt’s described him as “so lovely and so kind-hearted.”

“He’s left a hole in our gang that will never be filled,” continued Tom Young, who had been with Matt at the party but separated from him before the tragedy.

Matt’s Facebook profile has been inundated with similarly complimentary comments from his friends and relatives, with one person praising him as a “genuine and life-loving person with a strong and competitive spirit.”

Academically, Matt was a keen engineer whose interest was sparked after working as a guide at the BT Goonhilly Earth Station, where the structures he saw inspired him to learn about the work that went into them. Students and staff have been publically paying their respects, including Vice-Chancellor Nigel Thrift.

“Many people will be impacted by Matt’s death: his family and friends at home, his fellow residents, the staff and students of his academic department,” wrote Professor Thrift in a statement on the university intranet. “The thoughts of the entire University community are with them as they start to come to terms with their loss.

“It is understandably very difficult to find any comfort in such a tragic situation but I hope this will come as we start to focus on the positive contribution that Matt made to the lives of those around him.”

The University’s statement also reminds students that advice is available if desired from the Student Support Services.

A funeral service was held in Cornwall on Friday. Another memorial service was conducted the same day at the campus Chaplaincy, where there is also a book available for students to offer their condolences.