Tributes to 21-year-old from Shropshire after death in New Zealand
A young man has died after flying to New Zealand to join a friend who was travelling.
Alex Selby, 21, lived in Wem and had been working in Ellesmere before he decided to travel by himself.
Today his mother, who believes her son took his own life, paid tribute to him and said the family wanted to raise awareness of young men and mental health.
Clare Drummond Selby said Alex was found dead on June 19. He had been staying in a hostel.
His body was flown back to the UK on Thursday.
Ms Drummond Selby, who now lives in Buckinghamshire, said the family had moved to Shropshire in 2006 with Alex attending St Peter’s Primary School and the Thomas Adams School in Wem.
After his exams he did an apprenticeship at Fabdec in Ellesmere.
“He got a job in Whitchurch and decided, before it started, to go out to New Zealand to join a friend,” she said.
"I had a call from my partner to come home from work and when I arrived the police were there. I knew something terrible had happened."
She said her son had been a 'sweetheart'.
"He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was little and at times he could be exhausting," she added.
"But he was never really naughty. All his friends would tell you he was the joker."
She flew out to New Zealand to make arrangements to get her son home.
"I needed to see where it happened and see Alex and bring him home for burial," she said.
"You never think this is going to happen to you. It is a living nightmare."
Ms Drummond Selby said she had been lent money 'by some very kind people' to go to New Zealand and needed to pay them back.
A GoFundMe account, Bringing Alex Selby Home, has been launched to help pay for the travel costs.
“If there is money left over it will go to MIND or The Samaritans,” she said.
"My daughter, Katie, and I want to do something to raise awareness of the number of young men who take their own lives. It may sound clichéd but I don't want other families to go through what we are going through.
"We want some good to come from what has happened. We need research into what is happening here."
Alex's funeral has been provisionally set for July 17 in Chalfont St Peter, pending the decision of the coroner.
