Local Boy’s Ashes Scattered in Space after Sudden Epilepsy Death
After his son passed away earlier this year, local man Ed Nicholas decided to celebrate his life in a unique way: he scattered his son's ashes in space.
Luke Nicholas, aged 16, passed away from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) on the 18th of April this year. He lived in North Walsham, Norfolk with his family, and was a student at Paston College.
Luke’s ashes were scattered by Aura Flights, a company who conduct memorial spaceflights using hydrogen balloons and film the release in space. Ed discovered the service after he followed Cromer Crematorium, part of the Westerleigh Group, on Facebook.
Luke was known as a friendly and caring person. He was a member of his school’s Student Crew, who helped new students find their feet at Paston College. Ed says: “As Luke got older his caring side really came to the forefront. He would be an ear to talk to for his friends and he would do all he could to help”.
Ed chose the service so that Luke could travel to the places he'd always wanted to visit. "Luke was always very inquisitive and his need for answers led to a want to explore. The places that he and I planned to go had been exotic, but with his life cut so tragically short, we never got round to going…
Knowing Luke's love of astronomy and travel, I knew instantly that this was right for him", he said of the space scattering.
Luke's ashes were launched over 100,000 feet above the Earth attached to a bespoke stratospheric balloon, where they were scattered by Aura Flights' intelligent scatter vessel. The vessel, which was adorned with a photo of Luke, was programmed to release the ashes at the flight's peak altitude to allow them to spread out across the entire planet.
The ascent into space and the moment Luke’s ashes were scattered were also filmed by cameras on the flight, creating a unique memorial video with photos from Luke’s life and a message from Luke’s family.
After receiving Luke's memorial video, Ed said: "When I first saw the video, I was instantly brought to tears, it's everything I could have hoped for and more. Everyone that has seen it has loved it. I like to think that Luke would have chosen this way of having his ashes scattered too."
Paston College has organised a fundraiser to install a memorial bench in his name. Any excess funds will be donated to SUDEP Action, an epilepsy charity which provides information and support to those affected by a sudden epilepsy-related death. There are around 600 cases of SUDEP every year, many of whom are young people. For families like Luke's, SUDEP Action's work is invaluable.
Ed Nicholas said of his experience with Aura Flights: "It really was a beautiful outcome and I really can't thank or praise everyone highly enough. I would recommend this service to everyone".
About Aura Flights
Aura Flights scatter ashes in space to spread out across the planet. For passengers, it’s the ultimate final journey that sees them travel the globe and settle everywhere around the world. For their loved ones, the personalised memorial video created from the flight is an incredible way to commemorate a life well lived.
The ashes scattering service was launched in 2017 and appeared on BBC Dragons’ Den. Since that time, Aura Flights have helped over 250 passengers take the ultimate final journey, with five full-time staff and support from the wider Sent Into Space team.
Aura Flights is a division of Sent Into Space, the world’s leading operator of commercial Near Space launches. Sent Into Space was founded in 2011 and have conducted over 1,000 flights from sites around the world, for clients in the scientific, engineering, cinematography and marketing industries.
