Piers says hello. He's smiling, but it's a forced smile. His eyes tell a much sadder story.

His mate was on MH17, the plane crashed in eastern Ukraine in July. 298 people died that day.

"Richard was my best friend," he begins. He takes a deep breath, then starts describing the first time he met the 20-year-old.

"I just remember this incredibly strong accent he had and this crazy chiselled jaw.''

The last time Piers saw Richard was at his 21st birthday party.

"He was sat on my right, as he wouldn't be anywhere else," he says.

"Then, I remember seeing him halfway through the night unbelievably sweaty, still looking great and throwing some serious shapes.

"I remember thinking, 'I'm going to miss this boy a lot when he goes to Australia for his year abroad'."

The Leeds University student from Leicester was on the Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam and bound for Kuala Lumpur for the start of a university placement at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

The last time Piers says he spoke to Richard was the night before he was due to leave.

"We'd been texting that week about him going and debating whether he should pack his shoes or not. He was obsessed with them," says Piers.

"It was probably the only thing I disapproved of with him, his love for his shoes.

"He hadn't packed anything at midnight that night. His dad was driving him to the airport at four that morning."

News then broke of a plane coming down over eastern Ukraine.

Piers says he was at home with his flatmates, and didn't realize Richard was stopping off in Amsterdam.

"We were sort of thinking to ourselves, 'This is really stupid', but when it's not personal you don't dwell on it," he says.

"But then I got a message from a friend saying apparently Rich was on the flight.

"At that moment my heart absolutely sank.

What do we know about Flight MH17? The Boeing 777 was shot down on 17 July



It was travelling over a conflict-hit region when it disappeared from radar



A total of 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew members were on board



Western nations say there is growing evidence that the plane was hit by a Russian-supplied missile fired by rebels



Russia has blamed Ukrainian government forces

"I remember going upstairs and I prayed.

"I was ringing the Foreign Office helpline, and just thinking, 'Don't be on that plane, don't be on that plane. Please tell me you've missed it'," says Piers.

The Foreign Office was unable to confirm whether or not Richard had been on the flight as they were only giving out information to immediate family.

"I just ran upstairs. I remember trying to ring his phone and sending him a message saying, 'You'd better be in an airport bar having a cold one, don't be on that plane.'

"I didn't get any sleep that night."

Piers says he didn't want to message Richard's close family because he didn't want to worry them.

"I messaged his girlfriend's sister who confirmed the news.

"It's the most horrible thing that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. Knowing that something like that's happened. And then I had to spread the news onto all of our close friends at uni."

Piers shakes his head as he talks, still in disbelief.

"It just feels like he's forgotten to message us back, because he's too involved in making friends out there," he says.

"He's forgotten to tell us he's having such a good time.

"It's quite hard thinking that he's never going to... he's not here any more."

Richard took part in an Everest expedition in March to support a UK-based children's charity aiming to raise around £1,000. But since his death his fundraising page has received more that £14,000.

Piers is now joining some other friends to help raise money after Richard was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of eight.

Piers says they're also trying to do something which will push them to the limit.

"I'm very disappointed I've allowed this to happen, but we've just signed up for Tough Mudder," he says.

"I am not built for that, I am tiny. Rich was built for that.

"So we've all started getting into training for that and we're going to be raising money for a diabetes charity. Richard was diabetic.

"That's why he was in Amsterdam, so he could have a stop over to monitor his diabetes and sort his injections out.

"It's horrible as diabetes never held him back. But, in the end it's one of the factors of why he's not here any more."

Richard's body was brought back to the UK on 22 August.

His funeral is taking place in Leicester on 12 September, four days after he was due to celebrate his 21st birthday.

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