Father of 23-year-old man, Louie, who died in Rushton house fire pays tribute to 'extremely intelligent' and 'best friend' son

Louie, of Rushton, died following an incident at a property off Station Road in Rushton at around 10.30pm on Friday, March 28. Two other victims, Mayci Fox, 4, and her mother Emma Conn, 30, also sadly lost their lives.

The incident was attended to by fire services, but despite their best efforts, Louie, Emma, and Mayci could not be saved.

Louie’s dad – Lee, has now paid moving tribute to his ‘best friend’ in a statement issued via Northamptonshire Police.

He said: “Louie was my special boy and from the minute he was born, I wrapped him in cotton wool.

“He never left my side. When I was asleep, he was with me. When I was awake, he was with me.

“We were always together and the closeness we shared continued throughout his life - from when he was a small child all the way up until the day he died.

“We were as inseparable as it was possible to be. Even when I was at work, he would call and Facetime me to check in.

“He was my opposite in many ways, but we were best friends. When he was older, he was my calm when I was angry, he was my guide when I needed guidance, and he was my safe place when I needed it.

“It’s so hard to capture who Louie really was because he was so special. He lit up every room with his contagious smile and his trademark thumbs up, and one of the things I always admired about him was that he was never down, never sad, and he would never have a bad word to say about anyone, even if they wronged him. He always put everyone else before himself.

“Louie and I shared a love of football, and we enjoyed going to matches together across the country. I ended up buying two football clubs and this was purely because of him. He used to train with the team when we had the football club and he even played on the pitch at both Wembley and Anfield.

“Outside of football, we enjoyed going fishing, to the gym, and swimming. All of my spare time I spent with Louie - we were so close.

“Louie was an extremely intelligent lad and a real hard worker. He was amazing with his work colleagues, liked by everyone, and will be missed by everyone who knew him.

“He also loved his two little brothers - George and Albert, and it was devastating having to tell them that Louie had died.

“Life without Louie doesn’t bear thinking about. What do you do when your world is no longer here? How do you go on?

“He will always be the angel on my shoulder and whenever I think about him he will always be there with me.

“I will always have amazing memories of him, and all the things we did. We spent so much time together and I needed him just as much as he needed me.

“He was my kind and caring cotton wool boy and he will be forever missed by his dad and his two little brothers, George and Albert.”