Bereaved mother says life without her canoe tragedy sons is too hard to bear

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Ewen Beaton, five, and his brother Jamie, two, yesterday at Inverness Crematorium.

The boys died after the canoe they were in with their father and three family friends capsized on Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the Highlands, on August 26.

They were rescued by helicopter after eight-year-old Callie Mackay and her father Garry, 35, swam to shore to raise the alarm but the boys died that night in hospital.

Grace Mackay, five, was also pulled from the water but died last week in hospital.

The boys’ 32-year-old father, also named Ewen, is missing, presumed drowned.

At the service, a tribute from Ewen and Jamie’s mother Joanne was read out by family friend Pauline Gault: “Tell them I know they are with me each and every day and that they know just what I can’t find the words to say. Tell them they will always be a part of me, and me a part of them. To express how much I love them, these words seem so few. I know you both are in the best of care but life without you two is too hard to bear.

“I want you to know mummy will try her best. And we’ll meet again the day I am laid to rest.”