Nicholas Papanastasiou (1 Jun 1989 - 19 Oct 2016)

I thought of Nick this morning, and my heart broke a little - he was such an incredible young man, with so much potential and a bright future ahead of him. I only worked with him for a few short years at Battersea but he was an inspiring force of nature, wise beyond his years and genuinely full of life. He was so proud to be leaving to go travelling and then to go work with his Dad. We were all going to miss him on the Development, but we never expected our goodbye to be so final. It still shocks me today when I realise this actually happened, and that he's not off living his life somewhere else, with our paths to cross again sometime in the future. I can't even imagine how his family & friends have coped with this - thinking of you all and sending you love. xx

LOSING NICK ONE YEAR ON..
To everyone who knew nick .. family .. friends.. work colleagues and the new friends he made in Vietnam..

Just wanted to say a massive THANKYOU to everyone ..for all the fantastic messages , tributes and pictures..

We are still imagining nick is away on his travels, and who knows maybe he still is somewhere in this infinite universe... none of us know.

The only thing we do know for sure is life is never going to be the same again.
We miss nick so much and a big piece of all our hearts is missing..

We were blessed to have his love and his beautiful smile for 27 years.
Nick was a truly lucky person to have had such a wonderful loving family and so many friends in his short life.

He achieved so much and was recognised for all his hard work and effort in everything he did.

One year on tomorrow will be the first anniversary.

Hoping with all our hearts that one day we will see you again ...
Love and miss you soo much ..

Mum and Dad
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Randomly I woke up this morning thinking about Nick. We were never great friends but I really liked Nick. We were in the same hall at university and we both studied Engineering- albeit his course being much more difficult than mine!

We haven't spoken since university which is a shame but I will always remember his warming, gleaming smile. Nick was an Arsenal fan whilst I'm a Tottenham fan so whenever we did see each other we would always have some banter about that. The one year we finish above them and I don't even get a chance to wind him up! Nick also gave me a bit of coursework once as he was much cleverer than me!

I just want to say to Nick's parents what a wonderful young man you brought up. You should be so proud of him which I'm sure you are. I still can't get my head round it and I'm so, so sorry for your loss. Rest in peace xxx

Dear Nick, We will always remember what a competitive - well superb ping pong player you were. All of us definitely had some fantastic lunchtime games, sweating away inside the basement of BH while 'normal people' were out enjoying the sun! It's been almost 2 years since I left BH but I will always remember those good times. Rest In Peace. xx

Nick,

Thank you for being one of the best friends I could have asked for at Loughborough and in the following years. I have never met anyone as loyal, fun, kind, positive or intelligent. The best bit was, you didn't even know how great you were.

I'll never forget the first time I met you at Strett's party when you promised to help me pass Hydraulics and I saved my number in your phone as Princess Sarah (clearly I was drunk!!) ? Who would have thought that drunken moment would have led to all the years that followed! How would I have survived without you keeping me out of harm’s way and always questioning/laughing at my questionable judgement of men?! You were the best friend/wingman/fake boyfriend (whichever was needed) I could ever have asked for, and you will always be remembered by my family as the "tall, dark, handsome Greek" which they called you for months before meeting you, and still do today!

I don't know anyone who has had such a positive impact on so many people's lives. The outpouring of love you've had since you left is unbelievable, even from people you had just met. It shows just how special you really were.

I still can't quite believe you're not coming home to tell me all about your travels and latest antics. I can't get your little face, cheeky grin and what used to be chubby, cheeks out of my head. You were taken too soon and it's not fair.

It's been a privilege to call you my friend and to share so many memories with you. You will always be my baby spoon and I will always miss you.

Keep up your antics up there, you can tell me all about it one day ?

Love you Nicky (I know how much you loved being called that ?) Look out for us all from up there xxx ❤️

"SON"

The ones we love the most
are never far from HEART or mind
and bonds formed with our children
are of the STRONGEST kind

With every year that passes by
those FEELINGS stay the same
for such a love is timeless
and that's how it will REMAIN..

Words cant describe the JOY
the pride and pleasure too
that comes from simply having
such a special SON as you...

Our darling son nick we miss you so much..
you will always be in our hearts..
LOVING YOU ALWAYS....
mum and dad...
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Jane and I would like to thank everyone who attended the funeral to share this special moment with our families and for the kindness and love that all of you have given to us.

We have seen many tributes and messages posted on social media and funeral zone and the letters we have received from friends and colleagues telling us how loyal and wonderful and loving Nicholas has been. We thank you all for your kind words.

Nicholas touched many people’s hearts with his love and affection and of course his cheeky smile. He had no boundaries and was willing to help anyone, an attribute that he had which will remain close to our hearts for ever.

We are proud of our son for all he has done and we miss him dearly.

Good bye Nicholas for we hope that you are now in a place where there is no sorrow and no pain and we look forward to the time we can be together again.

Nick made a big impression at Merton Football Club being an integral member of the 'Threes Dream Team'. His love of sport, life and the camaraderie around him that he fostered shone through. And we all remember his smile which we all will miss so much. It seemed appropriate that to commemorate Nick the Club should make a donation to 'Smile Train' a charity that funds cleft palate operations for children in the developing world. This donation will enable two young children to have an operation and so be able to 'Smile for Nick' . Nick was a wonderful club member who will be so sadly missed by his friends, family and teammates and we will cherish the memory of a special young man.

I miss you too much Nick - you are an incredible human being, and I am so very thankful for the friendship we shared. xx

Dearest Nick,
I'm sorry I haven't said anything sooner; talking about it and trying to find the right words just made it too real. There is still part of me that desperately wants this to be a horrible nightmare, but I know it isn't. I still can't believe you're gone.
We grew up around the corner from each other. I always wanted to come over and play; always wanted to spend time with you, I honestly don't know how you put up with it. I was so persistent, it must have been so annoying!
I remember coming round for roast dinners. You and Chris would secretly lick bits of your food and give it to someone else, failing to contain your laughter as, whoever it was, ate the spit tainted food, which gave you away. The room would erupt in a harmony of disgusted groans and your mischievous giggles!
There were birthday parties that you invited me to, ice skating and go karting. Whilst you were with your friends, you did still try and include me even though I was probably embarrassing at that age, I vividly remember laughing at someone saying bus stop. What a wally right?
I remember you and Chris would record Saturday morning tv on VHS and then let me borrow the tapes without a fuss! It wasn't just the VHS tapes you let me borrow, but your video games as well. I was in such awe of your Final Fantasy games, that I was just happy to come over and watch you play. VII was your favourite! You always said your aim was for gravity defying Final Fantasy hair, I think once you said Squall specifically. Looking back at some of the pictures, you definitely achieved it!
If I knew you were going to be at one of our infamous Papa gatherings, I would be filled with such excitement because you were just so much fun. You never made anyone feel unwelcome and encouraged me to get involved; even if it was just to run and collect the cricket ball while you practiced hitting it with Dad.
I loved talking to you about healthy living, sometimes over a glass of wine, and learning new things about nutrition, who on earth am I going to turn to for such talk now?
I deeply regret that we grew apart as we got older, but it warms me knowing you lived a lifetime of happiness. I will always cherish my memories with you.
You were an inspiration, with one of the kindest souls that I will ever know, that lived life to the absolute fullest, and I hope to follow in those footsteps. I am so honoured that I got to call you my cousin, and I hope one day my smile brightens a room the way your's did.

All of my love in the world and more,

xxxxAnnie xxxx

P.S: Give Yiayia a kiss from me.

Yesterday we were finally able to say goodbye to our son Nicholas. It has been 5 weeks of pain and despair since the loss of our darling son in such a tragic way. The day we had all been dreading for weeks finally came yesterday.

We were utterly overwhelmed at the amount of people that wanted to attend. Friends and work colleagues of nick and of course our loving families. Plus people that wanted to support peter, chris, janet and myself through this traumatic time. We cant thank people enough for all the love and support that has been given.

Meeting people face to face at the funeral reception, hearing about nick from people he had worked with but we had never met before, friends that he had known for years, and people that had only known nick a short while but everything that was said made us the proudest parents ever..
We will cherish all those kind words, messages and pictures from everyone.

Anyone who would like to make a donation to the football club where nick played can still do so by sending cheques made payable to ROWLAND BROTHERS. They will also accept cash. The address is 434 LIMPSFIELD ROAD WARLINGHAM CR6 9LG.. alternatively you can also give to peter, jane, janet or chris and we will make sure it gets added onto the donations.

We will of course let everyone know how much we raised.
Thank you again for all your love and support.

Jane and Peter.