The family of Mike Towell have paid tribute to people for their support following the funeral of the 25-year-old boxer.
In a statement issued by the St Andrew's Sporting Club on behalf of the family it said: “Today is the hardest day of all for us, the day we realised for sure really that Mike wasn’t coming home to us.
READ MORE: Mourners honour 'Iron Mike' Towell at boxer's funeral
“The two weeks since we lost him have been very hard for us to bear, it has seemed almost surreal.
“Yet it has been a time when we have needed the strength of each other and of those around us.
“There are so many people we want to thank for the help they have given us over the last fortnight.
Boxer Mike Towell
“It has been such a devastating time for us but we have been helped through by the kindness and support of people like the night staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow were Mike was treated.
“The girls there were angels, they were in tears with us but they were so good with our boy. They were amazing.
READ MORE: Mourners honour 'Iron Mike' Towell at boxer's funeral
“That’s why we decided that the flowers at the funeral would only come from the family and we would have donations instead.
“Half the money will go to the Special Care Baby Unit at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee - where Mike spent a week when he was born - and the other half to the Neurology Unit at the Queen Elizabeth. That’s the way Mike would have liked it."
Photo credit: SWNS
The family also thanked the boxer's manager Tommy Gilmour for his kindness and "found real confort" from the presence of Mike's opponent Dale Evans at the funeral.
“He has also been through so much and no fault will ever lie with him, this was just two boys boxing and doing what they loved best.
“Dale is a terrific lad and it has meant so much that he has kept in touch with us so much since the fight. He is in bits and devastated like us all.
“We are thinking about him, we care about him and we would like to thank Dale and all the thousands who have sent messages of support and goodwill since Mike passed.
“We have lost a son, a partner and a father and we will always mourn him, yet we know we will always smile every day at his memory too," the statement added.
READ MORE: Mourners honour 'Iron Mike' Towell at boxer's funeral
The 25-year-old boxer died in hospital the day after he was stretchered from the ring at the end of a fifth-round loss to Dale Evans in Glasgow on Thursday, September 29.
The young father, from Dundee, was diagnosed with severe bleeding and swelling to his brain but survived for 12 hours after being removed from life support at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Photo credit: SWNS
His family called for the funeral at St Andrews Cathedral in his home town to be a "celebration of his life" and asked mourners not to wear black or red, as Towell did not like the colour.
Many friends and members of his boxing club arrived at the funeral wearing white T-shirts with a picture of Towell celebrating a win on them, with "Iron Mike Towell" written on the back.
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