Parents of Irish student who died on Greek holiday island say ‘he was a force of nature’

The parents of an Irish student who died on the Greek holiday island of Ios described their son today at his funeral in Dublin as a “force of nature” whose loss is a “profound cruelty”.

Max Wall, 18, tragically collapsed and died shortly after learning his missing classmate Andrew O’Donnell, also 18, had been found dead after a night out.

The teenager from south Dublin has been “deprived of a bright future,” his father Niall told mourners at a funeral service in Donnybrook on Monday.

“Max was full of life… He had a real thirst to see the world and experience as much of it as possible,” he said, according to the Irish Times.

“Max was a great brother to Charlie, they were true best friends.” He added, “We will love him forever.”

After his funeral at The Church of the Scared Heart, his mother Fiona said, “Max, our sweet boy, we love you forever, we miss you forever.” You were a force of nature and your memory will live on.’

Heartbreaking photos showed Max’s coffin arriving in a hearse before being carried into the church for his funeral.

Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll told family and friends during the service: “The world has lost a bit of color because of his passing.”

Andrew and Max were part of a larger group of students from schools across Ireland who traveled after their exams to mark the end of their secondary education.

Last week it emerged that Andrew spent the evening socializing with friends in a series of locations before finally deciding to call it a day at 1:30am.

When he then tried to find his way back to his hotel room, alone in the dark, he seems to have lost his way and come within sight of the hotel.

Max had helped him search in the hours before his body was found the next day. Max then collapsed and himself died shortly after hearing the news that Andrew had been found dead.

At Max’s funeral, symbols representing his life, including Manchester United and Leinster Rugby shirts, a pool cue and his school’s yearbook, were brought to the altar by friends.

His heartbroken family had paid tribute to the “larger than life personality” who brought “great joy” to everyone as they announced the funeral details.

“During his short time he faced numerous challenges which he endured with great courage and bravery and always remained his most positive, sunny, fun self,” it reads.

Full details of Andrew’s night out leading up to this double tragedy emerged recently in a police report based on interviews with numerous witnesses.

The investigation revealed that within hours of arriving on the Greek island, Andrew had gone out to socialize – a magnet for young people who want to celebrate events such as graduating high school, as Andrew and Max have just done.

Andrew and Max were among 70 students from St Michael’s College Dublin who went to Ios to celebrate the end of their secondary education.

The group was booked to stay in several separate hotels as due to their number of attendees they were unable to find one to accommodate the entire group.

The police report describes the Dublin group arriving on Ios around 2pm on 30 June. Andrew stayed at the Homer’s Inn hotel where he shared a room with Senan Henry, also 18.

After settling in with the couple, they took a bus together to Milopatas Beach around 7pm to start their night out.

Andrew and Senan first went to the FarOut Beach Club, a popular location among young people vacationing on Ios, arriving shortly before 8pm.

The two stayed there until 10pm, then decided to walk to Disco 69, described as the ‘hottest’ nightspot in Ios.

It is located on a strip in Hora, the island’s main town, where it is one of several bars and clubs on a strip popular with young people and usually busy into the early hours.

The report states: ‘At 11:00 PM they arrived in the city where they went to Disco 69 for entertainment and drank alcohol. Senan informed us that his friend Andrew left on foot to the accommodation where they were staying.’

According to the report, Andrew was reported missing to the Greek police by Senan on Saturday morning.

That was the last time his cell phone showed his location and Andrew was close to the Homer’s Inn hotel.

It is believed he slipped and fell after getting lost trying to make his way back on foot over rough terrain – within sight of the hotel.

His body was finally found around 1:00 PM on Sunday, July 2, in the bushes on a rocky slope overlooking the Homer’s Inn.

The report says, “He [Senan] reported that at 3:00 AM on 7/1/23, his cell phone’s search application shows Gavin’s O’Donnell Andrew standing outside the Homers Inn Hotel. Since then he has lost sight of him and lost contact with him.’

The police report also states that on the night of 1 July, Andrew’s father Gavin himself called Ios police station from his home in Dublin and also reported his son’s disappearance, leaving his telephone number for officers to update him with any news .

Panos Gkikakis, manager of the Homer’s Inn hotel, told MailOnline that he was on duty when Senan returned without Andrew from their night out.

He said, “He just asked for a spare key to the room they shared because they only had one and it belonged to Andrew.

“He told me they had broken up, but he went to bed because he was sure Andrew would come soon because his location showed he was nearby.

“It wasn’t until the next morning that we all started to worry. That night, I went with his friends to the top of the slope where Andrew finally went to look for him. But it was dark and we saw nothing.

“It’s very sad to think that he lay there for so long but was so close to us.”

Final results of post-mortems on both Andrew and Max are not expected for ten days, but Greek sources have indicated that Andrew died from a fall from a height that left him with a concussion.

Max is believed to have had an existing heart condition that may have contributed to his death.

A medical source in Ios said: “We are waiting for the full results of the toxicological analysis carried out by specialists from the University of Crete.”