James Mutch

The Bolton (England) News

A fun-loving man whose motto in life was 'go big or go home' has been cremated in a giant yellow Lego block coffin after dying of cancer.

Jordan McCole of Tyldesley in Greater Manchester, England, was "a ray of sunshine who would have wanted his send-off to make his friends and family smile," says his mother, Jannine.

The 21-year-old was obsessed with Lego and Jannine believes the tailor-made 7-foot coffin provided a fitting farewell for her beloved son, and hopes it will give inspiration to other families in mourning.

"We made the decision that we wanted to inspire others going through the same terrible situation of losing a young person and facing the prospect of a traditional send-off," she said. "We didn't want to send him on his next journey in a brown box; we wanted the last image of him to reflect his life."

She continued: "If you knew Jordan you would understand why we did it. He was our ray of sunshine and would have wanted his send-off to make his friends and family smile. His motto in life was 'go big or go home' so we knew we had to go all out. Funerals can have laughter and creativity as well as love and grief. That is what we want people to take away from this."

Jordan died on Feb. 3 following a long battle with leukemia. His funeral took place at Howe Bridge Crematorium in Atherton on Feb. 20.

"We never imagined that his illness would take him, because he was a fighter," Jannine said. "But once we had to face the fact we would lose him, we started thinking about how we could make his send-off unique and true to who he was as a person."

Heaven Is A Halfpipe, a song by the band OPM, added a further touch of quirkiness to the funeral after being selected as the send-off song.

Friends and family then headed to the Lugana Italian Restaurant in Tyldesley to celebrate Jordan's life at the wake.

He worked as an ambassador for the Climbing Out charity and his dream was to become a Royal Navy aircraft engineer.

Jordan also sailed with the Ellen MacAuthor Foundation and worked for the Bolton Mountain Rescue Team when in remission from cancer.

Jannine and Jordan's dad, Tony, are now raising money for the Young Oncology Unit at The Christie in Manchester, where he was treated in his fight against leukemia.

To make a donation visit justgiving.com/fundraising/JordanMcCole.







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