THE mother of a Minehead rugby player has paid tribute to her ‘well-respected and extremely hard-working’ son.

The Minehead community was shocked after Freddie Pring, 20, died instantly after falling from a balcony in Magaluf in the early hours of Friday, June 7.

Freddie’s mother, Heather Pring, said although Freddie liked to socialise, he was proud to be a young working professional and not on a ‘lads holiday’ as some of the tabloid newspapers had portrayed.

Freddie was in Magaluf on a company incentive trip which he won due to his impressive performance and work ethic in his job for an engineering recruitment firm in Bristol.

His employer said: “He had quickly shown his ability and professionalism within his nine months in the job, and was already a respected and liked colleague.

“Freddie was the youngest person in the company to ever hit the sales target required to qualify for the trip.”

Mrs Pring said: “Freddie was well-respected, well-mannered and extremely hardworking.”

“He had just been about to embark on the next chapter of his life and move in with his girlfriend, Mia, a financial planner, in Bristol.”

Mrs Pring said she had been overwhelmed by the support of the community in the wake of Freddie’s passing.

“I always knew a lot of Freddie’s positive traits, but I did not realise just how many lives he had impacted, which is amazing for someone so young,” Mrs Pring said.

“The Minehead Barbarians have been amazing, too. I know some of them took time off work to get the rugby club ready for Freddie’s send-off.

“There were 500 people at his funeral. I will never be able to say thank you enough to those who supported us.”

Freddie had four younger sisters, aged between nine and 19, and Mrs Pring says her job now is to make sure they grow up as strong, moral women.