A FORMER teaching assistant has paid a touching tribute to a Builth Wells man following his funeral last weekend.

Murray Beehan died suddenly on December 30 after collapsing at his home in Builth. His death sparked a surge of colourful tributes and nostalgic photos on social media – from a multitude of friends and family from Builth, and beyond. The funeral of the 34-year-old, who had three kidney transplants as a child and yet went on to win a plethora of medals in the pool at the British and World Transplant Games, was held at St Mary’s Church in Builth on Saturday, January 16.

One particularly poignant post paying tribute included snippets from an old magazine article written about sport-mad Murray, who just wanted to be and acted like a normal child, posted on Facebook by Hayley Eggerton, who was a teaching assistant at Builth Wells Primary School almost three decades ago, and charged with Murray’s care.

Despite his childhood struggles Hayley described Murray as someone who “didn’t want to miss out on anything”.

Hayley, who left the teaching profession three years ago after 27 years, looked after Murray from the age of four to when he left for the high school.

“The article was something like you’d read in Bella or that type of magazine; they came to the school in 1992 and asked to do a piece on Murray,” recalls Hayley.

“He was on the transplant list at the time and him coming to a mainstream school was a big deal. He was on dialysis and waiting for a transplant, and I’d go from school with him to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. We’d get the taxi driver to stop on the way home sometimes and go strawberry picking.”

Hayley would accompany Murray on his regular dialysis trips – he was the youngest child in Britain to receive a kidney transplant at the time – with parents Pat and Alvina also working and caring for middle brother Sean, who had come along by the time Murray was in school. A third brother, Ryan, wasn’t far behind.

The article describes Hayley – known as Hayley Davies back then before she was married – as Murray’s “council appointed minder”, whose job it was to watch his every move during his six-and-a-half hours in school, making sure he came to no harm.

It’s a task Hayley recalls was rarely worry free due to how much of a normal kid Murray was. “He loved the rough and tumble of being a little boy, he just wanted to be treated like any other child,” said Hayley.

“He came on every school trip, he didn’t miss out on anything, whether it was for the day or overnight. And whenever we'd go on one I had all sorts of medication with me, I had to get another teacher to help me out with it. We would set off with all our bags including all the medication, nothing was going to stop him from missing out.

“His mum was great because she was also adamant he was to be treated like any other child. At the school we’d be hesitant but Murray and his family never wanted him to be treated any differently.”

Hayley’s fond memories of the marauding Murray match perfectly with the fact his family described him as “Mr Invincible”, due to his attitude towards life and what he overcame during it.

Murray, known affectionately by family and friends as ‘Muz’, dealt with various complications after being given little chance of survival when he was born with a blood clot in the veins that reduced his kidney function. It resulted in him undergoing three kidney transplants before the age of six, the first two of which failed, and yet he went on to defy doctors.

His life was summed up fittingly by the fact Tina Turner’s classic ‘Simply the Best’ was played at the culmination of Saturday’s funeral.