DISTRAUGHT teenagers clutched single pink roses and wept uncontrollably as the lily-draped white coffin of Amy Wood was carried into church at her funeral on Monday.
Hundreds of friends and family made a sea of pink as they crowded into St Peter’s Church, Hoyland to say goodbye to the popular 14-year-old who died on November 2.
Father Nigel Holmes led the tributes to a girl he described as sparkly and full of laughter.
Sobs gave way to laughter when he recalled how Amy, of Allendale Road, Hoyland was a bit of a poser who would not go anywhere without her lipgloss.
He said: “Amy had 50 pictures on her digital camera and 49 of them were of herself.
“She loved singing and dancing even though it is fair to say she was tone deaf.”
Amy became ill after a night out trick or treating with friends on Halloween. Her family thought she had a routine sickness bug but Amy died suddenly two days later.
Members of the St Pius gospel choir, many of them friends of Amy, performed at the service which included the hymn Christ Be Our Light.
Amy’s uncle, Martyn Helliwell, gave s reading and fondly remembered a time in her childhood when Amy told him ‘I’m not mardy, I’m a spicegirl.’
Mourners were asked to reflect on the words of Christina Aguilera’s song Beautiful which included ‘The sun won’t always shine, but tomorrow will find a way, because you are beautiful, no matter what they say.’
Groups of teenage girls wore T-shirts with ‘Amy Wood RIP’ and ‘We luv u’ to remember their schoolmate who loved messaging friends on the internet.
Others wrote warm messages of support on floral tributes placed on her grave at Kirk Balk cemetery. One read: “Amy, you’ll always be in my heart. I’ll look for the brightest star in the sky and know it’s you. Love ya, Jodie.”
