Liam Payne has raised nearly £200,000 for charity in the week following his death.
The One Direction star tragically fell to his death last Wednesday (October 16), after falling from the balcony of his third floor hotel room in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. Liam’s death triggered shockwaves across the world, as fans were stunned that the singer had died at the age of 31.
Since his passing, fans have been doing what they can to raise the profile of mental health, especially in men. Throughout the course of his life, Liam had spoken openly about his mental health struggles, including a growing dependency on alcohol.
READ MORE: Unanswered questions after Liam Payne death – autopsy, funeral date and return to UK
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Now, a T-shirt that had been designed by the Strip That Down singer has raised almost £200,000 – with the proceeds being donated to Choose Love, a charity he campaigned with. The money for the T-shirts has been generated solely in the week following his shock passing.
(Image: Instagram)
Working with the Choose Love campaign, the piece of clothing has flown from the shelves, and has amassed some £186,500 for the charity since his death. Choose Love’s founder Dawn O’ Porter confirmed the number, as she took to social media to offer her own tributes to the For You star.
Writing in a post on her Instagram page, Dawn said: “Today is #ChooseDay, and almost a week ago the world lost an incredible person. We, with so many others, are devastated by the death of Liam Payne and our hearts and thoughts are with his loved ones.
(Image: Kate Green/Getty Images)
“It seemed only right to dedicate this post to Liam and to say thank you for everything he did for us,” she added. “We will always be so grateful to Liam for the beautiful T-shirt he designed to raise money to support displaced people around the world.”
Charity worker Dawn revealed that after the news of his death broke, sales for the shirts designed by Liam had spiked in the seven days following his passing. She explained how the generosity of fans had “blown us all away”, thanking the “beautiful” community for their help.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
“These funds will help us continue to get vital care to displaced people all over the world,” she explained. “We will be forever grateful to Liam and his fans for this incredible act of love.”
The T-shirt sported a painting of One Direction during a concert and is currently available for £28 on the charity’s website. Dawn finished her post by stating that T-shirts were still available and would continue to be so that fans could mourn and support Liam’s causes.
Fans of the Strip That Down singer have been gathering at vigils across the UK and all over the world to pay tribute to him following his death. Fans have brought flowers, written tributes and sang Liam’s songs to remember him.
The vigils have taken place in places including London and Liverpool in the UK, Paris in France, Munich in Germany, Milan in Italy, outside the hotel in Argentina (this was attended by dad Geoff), Jakarta in Indonesia, and Manila in the Philippines.
It comes as investigations into Liam’s death continue in Argentina. The initial findings of Liam’s autopsy revealed Liam died from “multiple traumas” that caused “internal and external bleeding” after his fall.
Argentinian sources suggest crack cocaine and methamphetamine was in Liam’s system when he fell to his death. ABC News and TMZ claimed a cocktail of drugs called “pink cocaine” – containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – had been found during a partial autopsy, as well as crack cocaine and benzodiazepine.
Prosecutor Marcelo Roma has ordered comprehensive tests, including biochemical, histopathological, and toxicological, to find out whether drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident. It’s been reported that the final toxicology results are not expected to be made public for weeks.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
