Sci-fi superfan gets his dream sendoff – with his ashes scattered from space
A STAR Trek megafan lived his dream farewell – after his ashes were sent into space.
Nick Walker, 32, died in his sleep after a deep fryer pan fire at his Sheffield flat.
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He loved watching documentaries about the cosmos and science fiction films 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 blown into the atmosphere in a high-altitude balloon.
Stunning footage shows the spacecraft, including a stunned-looking photo of Nick rising above Earth.
Jess said: “Nick doesn’t want to be earthbound at all. He would want to be free. He has not been able to do that in his life.
“My brother was a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan and was obsessed with anything space related.
“He owned a lot of Brian Cox books and would spend hours watching documentaries about space, extraterrestrials and planets.
“We think it’s only right that Nick’s ashes be sent into space so he can be free and see the planet from a different angle, just the way he wished he could.”
“It will now lie dormant in space for the next six months until its ashes slowly come back to earth through water vapor. Rain and snow will always look different to us now.
“Thank you to everyone who helped me and my family launch Nick in the way he wished he could.
“Nick has been a huge video game fan and comic book kid since he was a kid. He had his own clothing line and a YouTube channel called AllYouGeek where he sat and talked about things that were happening in the world.
“He’s worked his whole life, he’s never really had a vacation or anything. For me it’s just the conclusion that in the end he was actually able to do what he wanted to do.”
Nick, who passed away in April, made it into space before the legendary actors from the 1960s Star Trek series, who will embark on a brave journey around the sun as part of the Enterprise flight organized by Celestis of Texas.
Sheffield-based company Aura Flights, which organized the mission, has so far sent 250 Britons on their final journey into space.
Aura Flights wrote online: “On June 1st, Nick’s ashes were scattered in space.
“Nick was carried high above the earth in a balloon, where he was carried by gentle stratospheric winds on one final adventure.”
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