Wife of Telford lightning strike victim Jeremy Prescott pays tribute to her 'soul mate'

Mr Prescott, who was known to family and friends as Jez, died after being struck by lightning on the Brecon Beacons while taking part in an activity for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme.

Since the tragedy on July 5, Mr Prescott's family said they have been inundated with tributes from people who knew and worked with him.

His wife, Sam, 50, of Little Dawley, Telford, said the kindness of others is helping her and their sons Luke, 31, and Josh, 25, cope as it helps to "keep him alive".

Mrs Prescott said: "We want to keep his memory going. The other night the three of us were all texting each other different stories about him.

"The boys were like 'do you remember this?' and I kept going 'well I do now'. I keep learning and finding out so many different stories about him that I didn't know."

Mr Prescott, 51, worked at Telford & Wrekin Council as a youth worker for 14 years and previously worked as a special constable for West Mercia Police and a printer at Taws Printers on the Halesfield Industrial Estate, in Telford.

He died in the freak accident on Corn Du mountain while helping in his role as an instructor with the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

He was one of two men to die on the Brecon Beacons during the lightning storm. Another two people were injured, with one treated at the specialist burns unit at Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

The tragedy happened as violent storms swept through the UK following a week of intense heat.

Mr Prescott's inquest and that of Robin Meakings, 59, was yesterday opened and adjourned in Aberdare by Powys coroner Andrew Barkley.

Mrs Prescott, a teaching assistant in Telford, said her husband loved working with young people and had a great sense of humour, enjoying inflicting practical jokes on his sons.

He also doted on his three-year-old granddaughter Tahlia.

The couple were married when they were 17 after meeting at a family party.

Mrs Prescott marked her 50th birthday on Monday and had planned a celebration with her husband. She said he bought her a plastic animal as a joke for each birthday and Christmas.

She added: "He was deep man, but he loved everything he did. I will miss him so much as he was my soul mate."

The family home of Jeremy Prescott is overflowing with sympathy cards.

It is evidence of the love from friends and family for a man who had a thirst for life and a great sense of fun.

His son Luke, who lives in Nottingham where he works as a security consultant, said his father would always pull pranks on him while he was on tour in Afghanistan where he was a marine.

"I remember he once sent me a box full of winter," he said. "He filled it with fake snow and anything that was winter related.

"But what he didn't know was that it was quite a bad winter in Afghanistan, and it was snowing there. So it was a bit more like a joke on him.

"Once he sent me a box full of sweets – but he had eaten all the sweets. It was just a box of empty wrappers.

"He was great for things like that. He was always up for a bit of banter with me – well, with anyone to be honest.

"He would always help me achieve my best, like when I said I was joining the Army.

"He said it might not be for me, but that pushed me to do it.

"I remember when I came home from Afghanistan in the morning once. He made me a curry at 3am. He loved making curry so it was no effort for him at all."

Mrs Prescott added: "Curry was his favourite dish. He loved making it and he knew all the correct names for the herbs and spices.

"He used the same shop to buy all the ingredients so they knew him and would give him coriander for free.

"He was such a joker, and I keep learning every day about something he did to someone, or some sort of joke he pulled on them.

"Every birthday and Christmas he bought me a plastic animal, and he once he gave me a huge plastic dolphin.

"How on earth he hid that from me until Christmas Day I will never know, but he just came up to me and handed it over. It was covered in tinsel.

"I said 'what am I meant to do with this?' and he just laughed. All the animals he has given me over the years will be kept safe in a memory box.

"So many people have shared stories, but one that has stood out is someone who worked with Jez at the council.

"They were both given bikes to help promote cycling to work, and they were told they had to look after them and keep them in pristine condition.

"Jez and his friend, Duncan, would go in the sweet shop every day as they cycled to work, and one day his friend came out the shop and Jez was looking a bit sketchy. He then showed Duncan the bell, as he'd knocked it off the bike.

"Without Jez knowing, Duncan reported it as a joke. A few days later he was called and said he was in trouble for causing criminal damage. Jez started to worry, but it was a wind up.

"That is what he was like. He was always making people laugh and having a laugh and a joke with people."

Mrs Prescott said he loved his work with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, and said the young people taking part would also be the butt of his jokes.

He said: "On an expedition he once decided to pull a prank on the kids taking part. Before the expeditions start someone has to walk the route, and this was mainly done by Jez.

"One time when he was doing this he found a fork, it must have been left behind by another group, so he decided to have a bit of fun.

"When he got back to the kids getting ready to set off he told them to watch out for the fork in the road.

"Well off they went, all keeping an eye out for this fork in the road he mentioned, and after a while they found a fork, surrounded by rocks.

"They knew straight away he'd led them on."

Mr Prescott was a part-time youth and community worker for Telford & Wrekin Council's youth innovation team and had worked for the council since 2001 where he joined as a youth volunteer worker.

He gave up a lot of his time to help young people within the borough achieve their full potential and was a trained Duke of Edinburgh's Award support worker.

When he was killed he was taking part in an expedition, and was at one of the group's checkpoints when the electrical storm started.

"He gave up so much of his time taking children on these expeditions," Mrs Prescott added. "He would come home from work, spend about 15 minutes in the house, then off he went to help some children doing their DofE.

"He always had a lot of time for the underdogs as well. Some children that took part would take it very seriously and make it a competition.

"But Jez was always there to give them encouragement and help them complete their expedition."

Just before Jez died, the family bought a new puppy, a springer spaniel poodle cross called Fenn.

"We kept winding Dad up about the name, because there's a YouTube video with a dog called Fenton," Luke said. "The video shows a man chasing his dog in a field, shouting Fenton.

"We kept saying 'that will be you' but he was adamant the dog would be called Fenn not Fenton."

Mrs Prescott added: "He was really excited to get the puppy, and just before he went on that expedition he was asking me if I had gone to visit to the puppy.

"I think he was also a bit nervous about having a puppy, as our other dog Charlie, who he loved, was three-years-old when we got him."

The funeral for Jez will take place next Wednesday at Telford Crematorium at 10am. The family have asked for only close friends and family to attend. After the service a wake will be held at the Valley Hotel in Ironbridge, and all who knew Jez are welcome to attend.

"We are asking people to donate to the Midlands Air Ambulance," Mrs Prescott said. "This is because I came off a horse once and broke my collar bone.

"I had to be airlifted to hospital and ever since then Jez would always donate to the charity every time he saw a collection."

• Donations to the air ambulance can be made by visiting www.memorygiving.com/jeremyprescott