Christopher William Gibbs (9 Jan 1987 - 3 Oct 2017)

Well I’m sat on the sofa of an ordinary evening and in my passing thoughts you entered my mind like you do every time I go down the spur road I always look for you or I hear certain Scooter songs I think of you!

Remembering the days we listened to Scooter in our school run when I drove us to school and chatted all the way, looking back they were the easy days not like now where work seems to take over our lives.

I attended another funeral this week of a 24 year old colleague who tragically passed from Cancer and I question why all the good ones are taken so early, like you Chris you were tragically taken away right in your prime. Never did I think you would get into your fitness I just use to see you eat or raid your mums cupboards for food!

I miss you, our school runs (not when you made me late lol) and your beautiful family. I know you’re there looking after everyone, just like we’re all thinking of you.

Take care Chris,

Nikki xx

I sit here of an evening and all I can think about is you and everything we shared. The memories we had were amazing and thinking about them makes me smile.
The times I spent back at your flat, meeting Sam, listening to the conversations you guys would have thinking what have I got myself into here! Hearing all the stories of what you two got up too together (people should have been worried when you both were out in public) but I soon learnt that your relationship was more than just best mates you were like brothers.

The nights we spent together I’ll never forget, talking until god knows what time, talking about life, the future, all you had planned and how lucky we were to have each other. I’ll miss the jokes you played on me, running through the flat in the dark with a scream mask on and scaring the hell out of me, which obviously you found hilarious! I’ll miss the way you quoted every film we watched, yes that annoyed the hell out of me, you were such a film boffin! I’ll miss the way I used to walk into your flat and be greeted by your gorgeous smile. You gave me the biggest cuddles ever and you’d say ‘this is where you belong, I love you’. Those words meant everything! I’ll miss the hot chocolates you made me every night we were together just before we went to sleep.
We both know that I am the most gullible person ever, I mean you got me to believe that cows lay eggs, you were so convincing! But I’ll never live that one down.
The weekend before you tragically left this world, we spent it together. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had. You cooked me a meal each night apart from one because I demanded we got a Chinese! We watched countless films (all of your choosing) I can’t say I enjoyed all of them but you always said I needed educating when it comes to films, the fact I’d never watched Harry Potter definitely didn’t go down well with you. I think your exact words were ‘ I’m starting to think we’re not compatible’ you were joking but I knew I had to watch them at some point! Which I promise I will.

You had the biggest heart and you made time for everyone. You always knew the right thing to say which would make everything seem so much better. I’m so thankful that I had you in my life, I just wish we could have had longer. But everything we did share I will forever treasure. I love you Chris❤️

You came into my life when I was only just an adult myself. But from the moment I held you, I loved you with every piece of my heart.
I watched you grow from the 8lb2 1/2 oz baby who would guzzle two bottles of formula milk, before sleeping for 15 hours straight. I watched you grow into the small child with the curly hair and the rosy cheeks, wearing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jumper. I simultaneously laughed, cried and despaired at the toddler tantrums; then took you for your first day at school - I left you in the class room and cried all the way back to the car.
I witnessed you grow from the first schooler to the middle schooler, to the slightly cocky teenager and beyond.
For a little while there, it was you and me kid against the world. We often drove each other nuts, we argued, we fought, we had fun and we laughed. Did you ever forgive me for beating you on your own video games?
And then you turned into an adult: learning to drive - which no doubt was the cause of my prematurely greying hair - leaving 6th form, getting your first job, leaving home. And then coming back. And then leaving home....
I have been watching you your whole life Chris, and I love what I saw. I am so very proud of the man you became:
Kind, Caring, loving, considerate.
Loyal, funny, sarcastic. Polite, well mannered.
Outgoing, determined, helpful.
Humble, self-deprecating, intelligent.
And in the interests of honesty, at times a complete and utter pain in the arse.
And I could have actually used you, the grammar police, as I am writing this....
As your mother, I showed you the difference between right and wrong, and I showed you the lines that you could not step over. Everything else about you was just inherently you. I have been told that you were a credit to me, but actually, you were a credit to yourself.
We have spent the last 30 years growing up together - or maybe I should say growing older together, we both felt that growing up was optional. And now that you have been snatched away from me in such a cruel and senseless way, I am forever grateful for the 3 decades that I had with you. I will never stop speaking your name. I will always talk about you with the same pride and love that I have always had for you. You will be in my heart and a part of me forever.
What you have achieved - especially in the last few short months is outstanding and I know that you have inspired others to achieve in the future in your name. Do you know that Jason and Shane carried your a Bournemouth Marathon number for you as they ran? Do you know that Katie-Louise ran with your picture on her vest? Do you know that Lauren smashed her personal best half marathon time for you? Do you know that Abby is continuing her running? And do you know about Laura's beautiful tattoo, done in your memory?
You once said to one of your friends that you didn't want to depart this world with a whimper. It was too early from r you to depart this world at all; you should have been standing here crying for me - but if you can see us all now, maybe you will finally understand how much you impacted on everyone you met, and just how much everybody you met loved you.
I have no idea, Baby Bear, how I will survive this. But I will.
I have no idea how I will ever learn to accept the loss of my only child. But I will.
I have no idea how I will put myself back together again having been so utterly broken. But I will.
And I will, Chris, because I know that you would want me to, and I promise that I will get through this and make you as proud of me as I have always been of you.
And yes, I will pursue justice for this, with every breath I have left, and yes, I will hate forever the idiot driver who did this to you and thought it was ok to run away, but I will not allow it to make me bitter, because you would not have wanted that.
And now I kind of hope you were wrong - and if we're honest, between you and me it wouldn't be the first time, as much as you hated to admit it - but I hope there is some kind of life after this. I hope that your Gran and Grandad have welcomed you and are taking care of you. And I hope that when my time comes, I will be able to look into those fantastic eyes of yours once again, and have one of your hugs, because we didn't hug enough when you were here.
I didn't tell you often enough that I love to, but I didn't have to: you knew.
I love you now and always, Baby Bear; you're not in my sight, but you are forever in my heart.
Cheerio: until we see each other again.
Mother Bear x

When I close my eyes and think of you Chris, I see the little boy with the golden curls, blue eyes and that cheeky grin. I smile as I think of the toddler who thought it would be a good idea to submerge his aunt's shoes in a bucket of mop water and the little boy who traumatised his cousins by locking them in their Wendy house - they've never forgotten that you know. I can see you running around the garden with your make shift sword or, another of your favourites, pretending to be Virgil from Thunderbirds. All of this seams like yesterday.
I hope you knew how much you were loved and how proud we were of the kind, caring and selfless young man you had become and all you had achieved. We were proud to come and cheer you on when you fought in your Ultra White Collar match; we knew how hard you had worked and how much it meant to you. You were just beginning to realise your ambitions when you were taken from us in the most tragic of circumstances.
Now, I know you wouldn't agree with me here and, if this was a Face Book post, you would have just loved to have had a long, eloquent debate at this point (I loved reading those debates by the way), but humour me, as it comforts me right now to think that God cherry picks his angels and, on that fateful night, he chose the very best and, frankly, I'm jealous of the Angels around His throne tonight.
You have been taken from us far too soon Chris, the world is a far poorer place without you in it and we will miss you terribly but, you'll never be forgotten, you will remain in our thoughts and hearts forever.
Sleep tight beautiful boy.

To Christopher Gibbs my good friend. I’ll try to make these words good even though we both knew you were by far better with them!

As we all know by now, yesterday you were so tragically taken from us all, at such an early age. People do say that stars that burn twice as bright only last half as long, this was very true with you.

I cannot sit here and explain the hurt I have knowing I won’t hear or see you again. The laughs we had over the years will be truly missed. I can’t think of too many genuinely good hearted people but you certainly ticked that box. You never spoke bad of anyone.

People also say time is a good healer, something that I don’t think is true, no amount of time will help with this one. And as I think of all the silly, stupid things we have done, it makes me realise just how close we were, even though we may not have spoke everyday.

Until we meet again my friend, thinking of you always, Lee xx

Chris

I'll try and keep this brief as we all know Chris was always a man of very few words.... In all seriousness he wouldn't want a big fuss made over him, unless we are bigging him up! Which I'll be doing for the next few moments.

So I first became friends with Chris way back in 2000 where we both attended Corfe hills school together.

For those that don't know, the uniform was a rather interesting shade of brown with an almost custard yellow shirt, so you can imagine some of the comments from our peers from other schools.

The rules were that you were supposed to wear the jumper at all times unless told otherwise.

But with Chris that wasn't quite the case as I'm sure most mornings he was getting ready for school during his journey there.

I remember it so vividly, he'd be dropped off in the morning, I'd be stood by the bike rack waiting for him. He would then come strutting over, bag over one shoulder, jumper in the other hand, tie about an inch below his open top button, shirt un-tucked with some form of t-shirt showing over the top of that.

Now in most cases when you see someone in the morning generally the common greeting would be "Good Morning".

However with Chris 9 times out of 10 you were greeted with a large open mouthed yawn.

Once that was out the way and he was able to then communicate in some form of English and he got his bearings of where he was and who he was, we then would normally discuss something that had been a big love for most of his life.... Football!! Although being a Cherries fan this was questionable.

Having said that when I first met him he told me he was a Liverpool fan, I was then later informed that he'd been a supporter of Man United in his earlier years because Eric Cantona played for them. From Liverpool he then moved onto Southampton (which is where he should have stayed) before finally falling in love with the Cherries. I think even Barcelona might have even had a place at some point as well. So you could say his loyalties towards football teams was somewhat flexible.
But one place where his loyalty was unquestionable, was with his family and friends.

He was always there no matter what, I can think of numerous times from a personal point of view and for so many other people. When he would drop everything to help whoever it may be and would expect nothing in return. Many of us here will know this.

He had this amazing ability to always say the right thing that just made you feel like everything was going to be ok.
He would never judge you on what you were saying, he would just sit back, listen and analyse what you said, he would then follow up with his words of wisdom.

He was wise far beyond his young years.

I think this is why his career as a carer was very fitting, something I know he was passionate about and from what I've been told he was very good at it, which I can absolutely believe.


The one thing that Chris would do to everyone is make them laugh, but he had a somewhat different take on life and his humour would normally be something totally inappropriate and at times questionably legal, but that was what we loved about him.

Chris was also renowned for his impeccable punctuality, he was always there on time as long as you allowed about another 20 plus minutes past the time you agreed on.

I can remember one occasion, we were all due to go bowling and he said he'd pick me up as it was on his way through.

So I was sat there waiting and I had a call from a friend asking where I was, already about 15 minutes past the time we were supposed to be there. It turns out he drove straight past and wasn't until he was half way there he remembered he was supposed to get me. So we finally arrive and were greeted with a sarcastic round of applause, he was asked if he was working in Spanish time, henceforth anytime he was late after that he was known as Jose!!

A personal proud memory of Chris for me was when he took part in the Ultra White Collar Boxing at the BIC in aid of cancer research. Just another one of so many examples where he showed just how big his heart was, always putting everyone else before himself, which I think although was probably was one of his best attributes was sometimes his downfall as occasionally he'd forget to look after himself along the way.

This was something I know that he trained very hard for, it was a shared passion of ours having competed a few times myself, he would often come to me and tell me enthusiastically about his training and discuss his progress. This passion then became an obsession.

During this fight he had an early set back very early in the first round, where he decided to take this fight from a different angle and when I say a different angle I mean from the floor.

But he didn't let this deter him and he fought bravely until the final bell. Despite him showing glimpses of his new and improved skills and his bottomless pit of heart, grit and determination unfortunately his hand wasn't raised as the victor.

But the fact of the matter is and most importantly he kept going. This was something he would always do as he was as stubborn as an old boot and with some of the very tough hardships he had faced in his life he would always try his hardest not to let them stop him from being him.

After this challenge this seemed to install a new lease of life into him and he then started to look to other challenges and ways of pushing himself, one of those being the Bournemouth triathlon, he was so determined to do it he signed up with only a short time to go, it wasn't much longer than a month and he was also due to compete in the Bournemouth half marathon which unfortunately he wasn't able to see through. Although I know his number did cross the line.

I think it's fair to say that the hardest thing about this is that he had only just started to write this new chapter in his life and it is was one we were all excited to see what it had in store.

He was writing a comeback story that would even put the Rocky franchise to shame.

Which brings me to a fitting quote from one of the films, to draw this to a close, one I know he would use as an example himself

It ain't about hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

Chris

I'll try and keep this brief as we all know Chris was always a man of very few words.... In all seriousness he wouldn't want a big fuss made over him, unless we are bigging him up! Which I'll be doing for the next few moments.

So I first became friends with Chris way back in 2000 where we both attended Corfe hills school together.

For those that don't know, the uniform was a rather interesting shade of brown with an almost custard yellow shirt, so you can imagine some of the comments from our peers from other schools.

The rules were that you were supposed to wear the jumper at all times unless told otherwise.

But with Chris that wasn't quite the case as I'm sure most mornings he was getting ready for school during his journey there.

I remember it so vividly, he'd be dropped off in the morning, I'd be stood by the bike rack waiting for him. He would then come strutting over, bag over one shoulder, jumper in the other hand, tie about an inch below his open top button, shirt un-tucked with some form of t-shirt showing over the top of that.

Now in most cases when you see someone in the morning generally the common greeting would be "Good Morning".

However with Chris 9 times out of 10 you were greeted with a large open mouthed yawn.

Once that was out the way and he was able to then communicate in some form of English and he got his bearings of where he was and who he was, we then would normally discuss something that had been a big love for most of his life.... Football!! Although being a Cherries fan this was questionable.

Having said that when I first met him he told me he was a Liverpool fan, I was then later informed that he'd been a supporter of Man United in his earlier years because Eric Cantona played for them. From Liverpool he then moved onto Southampton (which is where he should have stayed) before finally falling in love with the Cherries. I think even Barcelona might have even had a place at some point as well. So you could say his loyalties towards football teams was somewhat flexible.
But one place where his loyalty was unquestionable, was with his family and friends.

He was always there no matter what, I can think of numerous times from a personal point of view and for so many other people. When he would drop everything to help whoever it may be and would expect nothing in return. Many of us here will know this.

He had this amazing ability to always say the right thing that just made you feel like everything was going to be ok.
He would never judge you on what you were saying, he would just sit back, listen and analyse what you said, he would then follow up with his words of wisdom.

He was wise far beyond his young years.

I think this is why his career as a carer was very fitting, something I know he was passionate about and from what I've been told he was very good at it, which I can absolutely believe.


The one thing that Chris would do to everyone is make them laugh, but he had a somewhat different take on life and his humour would normally be something totally inappropriate and at times questionably legal, but that was what we loved about him.

Chris was also renowned for his impeccable punctuality, he was always there on time as long as you allowed about another 20 plus minutes past the time you agreed on.

I can remember one occasion, we were all due to go bowling and he said he'd pick me up as it was on his way through.

So I was sat there waiting and I had a call from a friend asking where I was, already about 15 minutes past the time we were supposed to be there. It turns out he drove straight past and wasn't until he was half way there he remembered he was supposed to get me. So we finally arrive and were greeted with a sarcastic round of applause, he was asked if he was working in Spanish time, henceforth anytime he was late after that he was known as Jose!!

A personal proud memory of Chris for me was when he took part in the Ultra White Collar Boxing at the BIC in aid of cancer research. Just another one of so many examples where he showed just how big his heart was, always putting everyone else before himself, which I think although was probably was one of his best attributes was sometimes his downfall as occasionally he'd forget to look after himself along the way.

This was something I know that he trained very hard for, it was a shared passion of ours having competed a few times myself, he would often come to me and tell me enthusiastically about his training and discuss his progress. This passion then became an obsession.

During this fight he had an early set back very early in the first round, where he decided to take this fight from a different angle and when I say a different angle I mean from the floor.

But he didn't let this deter him and he fought bravely until the final bell. Despite him showing glimpses of his new and improved skills and his bottomless pit of heart, grit and determination unfortunately his hand wasn't raised as the victor.

But the fact of the matter is and most importantly he kept going. This was something he would always do as he was as stubborn as an old boot and with some of the very tough hardships he had faced in his life he would always try his hardest not to let them stop him from being him.

After this challenge this seemed to install a new lease of life into him and he then started to look to other challenges and ways of pushing himself, one of those being the Bournemouth triathlon, he was so determined to do it he signed up with only a short time to go, it wasn't much longer than a month and he was also due to compete in the Bournemouth half marathon which unfortunately he wasn't able to see through. Although I know his number did cross the line.

I think it's fair to say that the hardest thing about this is that he had only just started to write this new chapter in his life and it is was one we were all excited to see what it had in store.

He was writing a comeback story that would even put the Rocky franchise to shame.

Which brings me to a fitting quote from one of the films, to draw this to a close, one I know he would use as an example himself

It ain't about hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

A lovely lovely man and a true and loyal friend to both of our kids. Alan & Sue Webb

Words cannot express how much you will be missed by everyone you met. Forever in our hearts xxx

Dear Chris.

I can remember the first day I met you. We hardly spoke,we both didn't know how to take each other. Then one day we struck up conversation with me and you told me some private information asking me not to repeat it. Of course this was a test to see if you could trust me or not. Needless to say you could trust me and we struck up an amazing friendship.

I can remember when I added you on Facebook, I got a notification to say you had accepted and soon realised you were in the toilet at the time! I asked you did you accept my friend request when on the toilet to which you replied "yup doing a poo made me think of you!" This was the start of me realising what a sense of humour you had!

It soon became a daily ritual, as soon as we could find each other on the unit we were working on to have our morning hug. My god your hugs were amazing. You would wrap me into your arms, squeeze tight and always made me feel safe.

The pranks you would pull on me at work would always make me groan "here strikes chris again!" Locking me in the pantry or even the smelly sluice! I would roll my eyes and wait for you to release me from my temporary prison! You would always laugh at my having a phobia of peas and I would pay you back with spiders! That was the only thing I could get to spook you!

We would text every night whether we had seen each other at work or not whether it be a short and sweet text or one of those texts we would poor every feeling out into over hours!

The conversations we had I will always treasure.

I can always remember being in the middle of having my eyebrows done when you phoned saying you needed me right now for a hug and chat and I raced straight over to be there for you and walking in you burst into laughter at my red eyebrows!

Most people only saw you as the prankster with the tough exterior as you didn't want people to see you as weak, I was one of the few lucky ones who saw the true real you, the sensitive, the kind and gentle and the guy that would do anything for others but refused people helping you. The man who would appreciate all the small details.

The nights we would both have a good cry over things or be in stitches over the silliest things. We would both tell each other "I love you" because even tho we were only friends, no, you were my BEST friend, you were like family to me.

You understood me when others didn't you were one of the few who could calm me when I was on one, usually with one of those hugs. God I miss those hugs.

When you started your boxing I remember you telling me you were not sure if you could do it but would give it your best shot, you excelled at it and found a new lease in life. I was so proud of you when I saw you compete in your boxing match at the BIC.

When I left waypoints I was sad as I wouldn't see you on a daily basis. We promised each other we wouldn't lose contact. We still talked over text or phone but we were both so busy we couldn't see each other as much as we would of liked.

You really got into your running and again was so proud of you when you competed in your first running event.

I saw you about 4 days before that awful day and you told me about your triathlon.
You said that you would die trying, how bittersweet are those words!
We had planned to meet up for a proper catch up but now that will never happen!

Because of 2 selfish cowardly people your life has been cut short!!! I will never see that smile, never experience one of your hugs and will never be able to talk to you again. I miss you so much.

It's funny how I still expect you to phone me now saying that it was one of your jokes that you are really ok. I still cannot accept you are really gone.

Tomorrow is going to be a very hard day for everyone saying goodbye to you. But tomorrow is your day. To celebrate being blessed to have you in our lives even if only for a short while.

You have made my life so much richer to have known you! I am proud to have called you my best friend!

I love you! Sleep tight my darling, until we meet again!

Chris, you were my library buddy. You taught me to appreciate not just the greats but the wonderful too. You taught me to appreciate terry pratchett. You told me off for not reading game of thrones. You made me howl with laughter. You've been someone I could talk to when times got rough and you beat me time and time again at scrabble. I miss you like I never thought I could or would ever have to. Sleep tight you sweet man. Xxx

You will forever be my in my heart. As you always said to me "life isn't about how hard you can hit. Its about how hard you can get hit and keep going with a smile on your face" this has hit my hard and painting a smile on my face everyday is hard but I do for you! I Love you and I Miss You ❤ fly high babe 😇