Family tribute to Elliot Pullen

Elliot was our beautiful, bright and talented son, a dearly loved brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. He was funny, with a gorgeous smile, a cheeky glint in his eye, always well dressed, and such great company.

He was hugely adored by his younger cousins, who loved nothing more than to demand his attention, and he generously played endless games with them.

He was always the most popular and in demand guest at regular extended family meals and the family has wonderful shared memories of their time with Elliot.

Elliot had many passions including football, especially Liverpool FC, learning to drive with his dad, riding motorbikes, eating out, attending live events and spending time with his friends, who were so important to him. 

Elliot’s great interpersonal, IT and team-working skills were a huge asset when applying for an apprenticeship role with PMC Retail, in Abingdon.

His parents, Kate and Giles, will be forever grateful to the PMC Family Team, and particularly his line manager, Elliott Winskill, for the hugely positive impact they had on Elliot during the last two years of his life, which was incredibly enriched by being part of an amazing group of people who provided the opportunities for him to fulfil his potential.

His PMC colleagues described Elliot as “a bright, talented and well-liked team member, with an amazing career ahead of him who was adored and admired by his colleagues and will be greatly missed.” 

Following Elliot’s death, PMC Retail have become an important part of our family’s life. They have provided us with much comfort and support, honouring Elliot’s memory by organising a marathon sponsored walk and bike ride on behalf of the Road Safety charity, Brake, where they raised over £10,000.

Along with our close family and friends, we were able to join Elliot’s PMC Colleagues to remember and celebrate his life just after the first anniversary of his death, which meant a huge amount to us.

Elliot has inspired us to want to support the road safety charities who helped us following his death – and we have fundraised to support Brake and RoadPeace who do so much to support families whose loved ones have been killed or seriously injured in road crashes.

As a family, we are also determined to find the strength to be able to join the other “Forget me not Families Uniting” who campaign, with the backing of Brake, RoadPeace and The Road Victims’ Trust, for Graduated Driving Licencing for young novice drivers.

We will also look to seek support from the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and local MPs to encourage their support in this campaign as there is overwhelming evidence that these licences will save lives.

Elliot lived his life to the full, and in the weeks before his death, he had been planning his upcoming 18^th birthday celebrations.

He had also received his new passport, with plans to go away with his friends for his first overseas holiday without his family.

We feel such sadness that he never got a chance to use it. We carry his memory and some of his ashes with us whenever we have been abroad, so that we can take a piece of him to the places and sites he never got to experience.

Elliot should have had an amazingly bright future ahead of him, a life of adventures and seeing the world. It has now been cut short by this awful tragedy, leaving behind a shattered family who miss Elliot beyond words. 

As a family, we have suffered the imaginable and really appreciate the outpouring of love shown to us over the last 18 months.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported us and greatly appreciate the care and thoughts shown to our family, and we send our love and strength to Ethan & Daniel’s families.

Elliot Pullen