£12,000 raised in memory of young salmon farmer Nathan
'Staggering amount' shows how well our son was loved, say parents
A fund-raising appeal in memory a young Scottish fish farmer who died from an asthma attack has raised £12,000, far more than originally envisaged.
Nathan Ritchie, 24, suffered the attack in a taxi on July 26 when travelling to Barcelona airport at the end of a holiday with friends Stephen King and Patryk (Paddy) Matuszczyk, who worked with Nathan at Scottish Sea Farms’ Barcaldine hatchery near Oban.
Despite attempts by his friends and Spanish ambulance and hospital staff, Nathan couldn’t be saved.
Talented piper
His parents, Janet and Stewart, set up a JustGiving page in their only child’s memory in the hope of raising £500 to be split between the Special Care Baby Unit at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where Nathan was cared for after being born 10 weeks early, and for Mallaig & Ardnamurchan District Pipe Band. Nathan was a talented piper who was originally from Mallaig and would have joined the band if he had still been living there, his parents told The Oban Times.
In a social media post, Janet and Stewart said a total of £12,000 had been raised from the JustGiving page, direct donations to them, and money collected at Nathan’s funeral in Mallaig on August 20.
They added it was “a really staggering amount and goes to show how well Nathan was thought of & loved by everyone”. The money will be split equally between SCBU at Raigmore and the pipe band.
RAS technician
Nathan had worked at Barcaldine as a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technician since 2019, following roles at CalMac’s Oban ferry terminal and before that with Inverlussa Marine Services until a diagnosis of epilepsy when he was 19 meant he failed his sea medical, halting that career option.
Rory Conn, head of freshwater for Scottish Sea Farms, said: “Nathan was a young man always happy to see you and always there to lend a hand in any way he could; he grabbed an opportunity with both hands.”