A HEARTBROKEN mum has made a poignant pilgrimage to the beauty spot in Australia where her engineering student son died.

Jayne Furber and her family placed flowers on a bench commissioned in his memory on the first anniversary of 20-year-old Josh’s death.

Josh, from Beechwood, was on a gap year walking with friends at a World Heritage site near Sydney when he lost his footing and fell 300ft over Wentworth Falls.

They met Elin Burgess, one of his friends who was with him when the accident happened, and traced his last footsteps through the Blue Mountains.

Around 80 relatives and friends held a lantern vigil near his Runcorn home and left messages.

His sister, Danielle Edwards, aged 30, who read the tributes at his grave on Monday, said: “To know Josh had such an impact on so many lives is truly amazing.

“He is being kept alive by all these memories. So many people have been inspired to do incredible things by Josh.”

Jayne is doing a skydive tomorrow (Thursday) and has already received pledges of £1,115 to support conservation work at the Blue Mountains in his memory.

Jayne, aged 47, blogging from Australia, described visiting her son’s Sydney home: “It was a magical moment but of course a very emotional one. We hugged and hugged his friends. We chatted and cried.

“It feels so right to share our experiences because we have received so much love and support from everyone, so that it feels they are all on our journey too.”

Anyone wishing to leave a tribute or sponsor Jayne can visit www.joshfurbermemorialfund.co.uk