Sci-fi superfan gets his dream sendoff – with his ashes scattered from space
A STAR Trek megafan had his dream sendoff – after his ashes were sent into space.
Nick Walker, 32, died in his sleep after a chip pan fire at his flat in Sheffield.
He loved watching documentaries about the cosmos and sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Star Trek.
To commemorate his life, his sister Jess Rhodes launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £3,000 to send his ashes into space.
His ashes were sent up on a high-altitude balloon and released into the atmosphere.
Impressive footage shows the craft, complete with a startled-looking photo of Nick, ascending above the Earth.
Jess said: “Nick wouldn’t want to be tied down to Earth at all. He’d want to be free. He didn’t get to do that in his lifetime.
“My brother was a huge fan of Star Wars, Star Trek and had an obsession with all things space.
“He had many Brian Cox books and would spend hours watching documentaries about space, aliens, planets.
“We think it’s only right that Nick’s ashes get sent to space so he can be free and view the planet from a different angle, exactly like he would have wanted.
“He is now resting in space for the next six months until his ashes slowly come back down to earth through water vapour. Rain and snow will always look different to us now.
“Thank you everyone for helping me and my family send Nick off in a way he would have wanted.
“Nick was a massive video game fan and comic book kid ever since he was a kid. He had his own apparel line and a YouTube channel called AllYouGeek where he would sit and talk about things happening in the world.
“He was always working through his life, he never really had holidays or anything. It’s just closure for me that he actually got to do what he wanted to do in the end.”
Nick, who died in April, made it into space before legendary actors from the 1960s Star Trek series, who are set to boldly go on a voyage around the sun during the Enterprise Flight organised by Texas-based Celestis.
Sheffield-based firm Aura Flights, which organised the mission, has so far sent 250 Brits on their final journey into space.
Aura Flights wrote online: “On June 1, Nick’s ashes were scattered in space.
“Nick was carried by high altitude balloon above the Earth where he was released to be carried on one final adventure by the gentle winds of the stratosphere.”