Patrick Connolly who died at the young age of 52 please help

Hi my name is Maria Hernandez and I lost my beautiful brother Patrick, my best friend on the 30th June 2024. My brother has not yet had his funeral due to me not being able to afford the funeral he deserved. I really want to bury my brother, and believe it or not my brother didn’t ever want to be cremated.

So I’ve raised some money and been awarded some money from the government but it’s still not enough for my brother to be buried. I’ve not got long left to raise funds, as my brothers funeral is booked for the 12th December 2024, and I’m not going to be able to postpone it any longer. Patrick was a beautiful person inside and out, he cared about his family and my mother so much, and he was the most honest and kindest person I ever knew. He lived a really hard life and suffered greatly throughout most of it, and it breaks my heart that I won’t ever get to see him again. I’m truly heartbroken especially that he died so suddenly in his flat, 9 days before his birthday. Patrick was a person that saw the world differently, he saw the light in people, the good inside them even though we all know that the world doesn’t always work like that. And because of the beautiful human being that he was he often fell foul to people taking advantage of him and his beautiful nature. I don’t want to paint just a hard unhappy picture of my brothers life, he did experience happiness too. He lived in Scotland for a few years where he was so happy and had great memories. But like all great things it came to an end and he ended up being back in London, homeless and alone for a while. When I realised that my brother had returned I was so happy but obviously sad at his circumstances, and I tried my best and hardest to help him. And basically that has been the story of my brothers life, he found navigating the brutal reality of life really hard, and he trusted & was let down time and time again. But I thought that he had really turned the corner when he eventually came to be in his own accommodation, awarded his own property, this is all he wanted so he could start to live his life again. That was last year, and less than a year of being independent and trying to live his life he died. Writing this now has been so far the hardest thing I’ve had to do, and asking for something that most people take for granted is even more harder and heartbreaking but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to honour my brother and at least give him in death what he never ever received in his life, respect, care, compassion and peace.

Thank you for all of your help and support, it truly is appreciated.