Tributes have been paid to a popular father-of-two who was killed in an accident on a mountain bike in Bristol.
Russell Mann died at the scene on the bike track in Arnos Court Park in Brislington, after he suffered serious head injuries in a fall from a mountain bike.
The incident happened on Tuesday evening last week, and tributes have since been flooding in for the 29-year-old father-of-two from Knowle.
His grief-stricken family and friends have left floral tributes at the scene and flooded his Facebook page with memories of the popular South Bristol man.
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A fundraising page has been set up to help his partner Kerry Lefeuvre and their two children Alisha, 11 and Cody, who will be six next week.
And on Sunday (may 19), they joined a huge group of family and friends, including Russell’s sister Samantha, and parents, on a fundraising walk from the city centre, through Bedminster to Knowle, ending at the Eagle House community centre.
The fundraising page has already passed four figures less than 48 hours after it was set up, and more money was raised on the walk, in which friends and family carried large signs paying tribute to Mr Mann, created by Signmarket.
As well as a father, brother and son, Russell was a DJ in South Bristol, under the name DJ Dusty, as well as a mountain biker and scaffolder, and was well known across South Bristol.
The former Ashton Park School pupil lost his life on Tuesday evening in a freak accident.
Mr Mann's sister Samantha said he was her best friend, who died doing what he loved.
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"He was my brother and my best friend all in one," she said.
In a direct tribute to her brother, she said: "You gained your wings in doing what you loved, words can’t describe how much I am missing you, and he will never know how much I truly loved him.
"So having him so close is what I miss the most, no words describe or could say the sorrow I feel everyday.
"Each day you're on my mind, brother you were one of a kind. Love you lots until we meet again your lil sister Samantha," she added.
His family and friends said the fundraising walk was also a way of getting people to come together to remember Mr Mann, raise money to support his two children in their future without him, as well as to dispel false rumours surrounding his death which had been circulating since the tragedy.
“People have been saying he was riding a motorbike, but that is not true, it was a mountain bike, and that he was drunk, which is also not the case at all,” said the march organiser Matt Jackson.
A second fundraising event is being held at Toto’s wine bar on Saturday, May 25, from 6pm.
To donate to the fundraising page, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/caroline-gill
