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Who was Simon Waller ?

Simon was so many things to so many people, it is difficult to find the words to describe who he was and the loss we all feel.

He was a loving son to Scott, a doting brother to Adam and Lawrie.
He was a dear nephew and grandson and he loved his Papa very much.

As a dear and cherished friend he was loved by us all.
Simon was an amazing skater, whose talent and dedication could have taken him to the very top of his sport. When Simon started his skating career his talent and determination was quickly recognised by his peers as someone to watch for the future. He learned so much from his coach, Jon who carefully nurtured Simons talent and helped to shape the skater and coach that Simon was to become.

Simon's dream was to compete at the Olympics and in pursuit of that dream he travelled extensively, competing and training in many different countries. Simon spent time in the US training with Lorna Brown, who recognised his amazing talent and much to Scott's pride and delight, likened him to the next Robin Cousins. At his peak, Simon truly was brilliant, not only from a technical perspective, but he also performed with such passion and artistry that he took your breath away.

Eventually Simon settled in Australia before his health prevented him from competing at the highest level.

Simon loved living in Australia and often spoke of the great times he had with friends and family in Perth. In particular he would often speak of the wonderful times he spent with Lawrie and Scott when they visited.

Simon's focus switched to coaching and he quickly established himself as a brilliant coach. His natural affinity for the sport and his enthusiasm and knowledge of physiology and technique made him a favourite with his students of all ages, from elite skaters to beginners alike.

It was through skating that Simon came into our lives. He was Emily and Kate's first coach before leaving for Australia, but he stayed in touch with the girls through Facebook and continued to provide advice and encouragement. When he returned from Australia he quickly became a part of our lives and over time became like a big brother to Emily and Kate. It was only then that we discovered his love of experimental cooking and his ability to create an explosion in the kitchen from seemingly innocuous ingredients :)

Skating was only one part of who Simon was. As his health deteriorated and prevented him from being physically able to partake in his sport, Simon never gave up hope. He relied increasingly on his friends and family for support and after treatment in Arizona, he was particularly grateful for the loving care that his brother Adam gave him when he returned to the UK.




Simon was a gifted scholar who achieved 12 GCSE's at school and 4 A levels which were self taught. He was offered scholarships at Brunel University but chose to study an Open University degree which offered him the flexibility to train. Simon realised the importance of education and pushed his students to follow an academic path as well as aspiring to skating success.

Simon had an inquisitive mind and spent a lot of time online with friends or researching his conditions. He was determined to understand everything about possible treatments to enable him to regain his dream. He never gave up and his involvement in many of the online medical forums earned him the nickname of Dr House, or Dr Simon, something Simon took great pleasure from...

He helped so many people through his work online and touched so many lives. Far more than anyone realised. The number of responses and messages of support that have been sent since his passing has been phenomenal.

Simon was a great inspiration to so many people. He was kind, generous and thoughtful and would always think of others before himself.

When Simon's health really got bad, he was still determined to spend time with those he loved. He used the Spoon Theory to explain to us that the spoons represented the energy he had for that day. On an average day he maybe had 8 spoons to use and he would apportion these across the day. For example, going for a coffee, he'd use 1 spoon getting dressed, 1 spoon for the journey, 2 walking to the coffee shop, 2 for chatting , 1 for the journey home and 1 left for the rest of the day.

Knowing he was willing to use his spoons to spend time with us was a precious gift.

For anyone else, what Simon had to deal with would have been too much to bear, but Simon was special, he never gave up hope and anyone who got to know the real Simon loved him.

Simon was never defined by his illness, but believed in living his life to the full and with "No Ordinary Moments". His mantra was "In pursuit of your passion, be neither timid nor afraid" and Simon lived his life by this.

Simon was very close to his mum, Scott, to whom he owed so much, including his great love of the arts. He loved all forms of performance art and enriched the lives of everyone around him through his constant involvement and appreciation.

He had a great love of language and poetry and would often express himself and his feelings through the written word.

He was an eloquent and articulate young man with a wicked sense of humour. He loved comedy and would spend endless hours watching standup on his laptop.

He loved to tease and bamboozle his friends and family with long words and was not averse to inventing new ones. Particularly if he was losing at Scrabble....

"Huggles" was a favourite word, which irritated Emily so much that she bought him a dictionary and went to great lengths to point out that it wasn't a real word. :)

Simon's philosophy was based on love, forgiveness and second chances. He didn't judge others and always looked for the best in a person. He pushed all those he knew to believe in themselves and to be the best that they could be and inspired those around him.

Simon was always generous and thoughtful and always had a knack for buying exactly the right gift and saying the exactly right thing.

So who was Simon Waller ?

Simon was a fiercely independent young man who had such great potential, he lived his life to the full and achieved so much in his 25 years. We all have our precious memories of Simon and he would want us all to remember him as the talented and vibrant young man who skated with a passion and flew across the ice, free of pain and full of joy.

As a gentle and loving soul, he was a light that burned brightly and was taken away from us all far too soon.

Lawrie's analogy for Simon is the story of The Snowman. It is a perfect fit for Simon on so many levels. He came for a short while, took us on an incredible journey but when it was time to go, he melted away to leave us with the wonderful memories that we will all cherish forever.

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