Taihape came to a standstill yesterday as the funeral procession for 13-year-old Wanganui boy Silva Horton wound through the main street and up to the cemetery.
Taihape police held traffic back as the cortege made its way from the Taihape Area School, where more than 1000 people had packed the school's
massive gym to farewell young Silva.
Funeral director Chris Bennett said it was the biggest funeral he'd seen in the town.
The service sheets ran out almost immediately, he said. "People were filling the hall long before 11am, when the funeral was to start.
"We had to delay the service because people just kept arriving," he said.
One funeral-goer, who did not want to be named, said the flowers were incredible.
"They were a mass of bright, vibrant colours all around Silva's casket."
It seemed people had come from all over to be at Silva's funeral, the woman said.
"There were people from many different churches, school children from Taihape and Wanganui who sang at the service.
"So many people spoke and paid tribute. It was a beautiful and very moving service for a lovely boy."
Maori sang a waiata at the start of the service.
The teen died on Saturday night about 9.45pm when he was trapped in the family car after it plunged into the Whanganui River.
The devout Christian had been out door-knocking with his mum Vanessa for more than three hours on Saturday, collecting donations for a seriously injured neighbour.
After they returned from collecting they saw a group of kids smashing their letterbox off the fence.
The vandals ran off and Silva, his friend Robert Palmer and his mum chased after them in the car. His mother pulled on to the grass a few metres from the intersection of Stewart St, where they lived, and Somme Pde to speak to the group.
The car slid on the wet grass and rolled 10m down a bank into the Whanganui River. Vanessa Horton and Robert escaped, but Silva drowned, trapped inside the car.
