Tributes to ‘inspirational’ teacher go on

A social media trend dedicated to the life of John Patrick (Paddy) Harrower, who was described as a “legendary” figure at Wallace High School where he worked as a PE teacher, has persisted in the days and weeks following his death.

While the PE teacher (pictured) passed away on July 24, a celebration of his life was held on Thursday at the school which later moved on to Lisburn Rugby Club.

And in the days since, tributes have continued to come in for the former Lisburn rugby club captain on social media with people sharing their sporting exploits in memory of the inspirational figure with the ‘I blame Paddy’ tag.

His widow, Andrea Harrower, said: “In just 24 hours after Paddy’s funeral, a variety of people have sent a variety of #iblamepaddy things.”

She said, in a social media post, she had been “blown away by his inspirational input continuing”.

In the thanksgiving service held at the school, humanist celebrant Sheena Bradley said: “No matter how hard it was for Paddy, and when anybody else would have been bedridden, Paddy was cycling, kayaking, going on half-day trips, doing DIY and gardening in his final days.

“All the while, Paddy also ensured that everything was in place on a variety of fronts to make life as easy as possible for everyone after he had gone. He always put others first.”

Andrea said: “Paddy planned and envisaged this entire thing. What he wouldn’t have expected was the numbers of people, and also the huge kudos that there has been for him.

“He was so inspirational. When people learned how ill he was but knew that he was still going about meeting targets, doing stuff, they felt they had no valid excuse not to do stuff.

“People who said they would never cold water swim saw Paddy do it, thinking ‘he’s doing it, look what he’s going through, I better do it – I blame Paddy.”