Hillsborough stories: Carl William Rimmer
Carl William Rimmer was a video technician from Liverpool and travelled with his brother, Kevin Rimmer, and friends Graham Hurst and Michael Brooks, all of whom survived.
This is the full statement to the inquests by his father, Edward Rimmer:
I make this statement to the inquests on behalf of my family in relation to my son Carl Rimmer who lost his life in the disaster at Hillsborough football stadium on 15 April. He was age 21 years.
Carl is our lovely handsome son. It is difficult to know where to start because he put so much into his short life.
He was the youngest of our three children. Carl had an older brother named Kevin and a sister named Gail and they all got on well.
Because Carl was the baby of the family some people used to say I spoiled him rotten. I am so glad now that I did.
Carl started school and did not like it very much, but he was well liked and had lots of friends. He mainly enjoyed taking part in sports, particularly football and volleyball, but it was football that was his favourite.
He played football for Woodfarm Hey in the junior team and then progressed to the seniors. When he was 10, he went to Ireland with the football exchange team and enjoyed it so much.
He won numerous trophies and medals and when he was older went on to play football for various pub sides with his brother Kevin, who also played.
He also played indoor cricket and I believe to my recollection he was the only person I ever heard of being sent off a cricket pitch for arguing with the umpire. He was very passionate about his sport.
Carl loved animals and often came home with stray dogs and asked if we could keep them. At one point we had two dogs, which were the mother and daughter. We got them from a local rescue centre.
One of them was a real softie and Carl used to call it 'Emptyhead'. He would often go to his bedroom and shout, 'Come on, 'Emptyhead' and the dog would follow him up.
He grew up and moved on from stray dogs and started picking up stray children, bringing friends home for tea. There was one particular boy called Pip, who was a bit of a street urchin, and Carl started bringing him home for tea.
They became such good friends that Pip even came on holiday with us.
Carl liked keeping busy with his hands from a young age. He started off with Dinky toys, taking them apart and putting them back together again. This progressed to tinkering with larger gadgets.
He went to Riverside College. After four weeks, he left, because they were teaching him how to wire a three-point plug. He said to my mother, 'I'm not staying there, I'm way beyond that'.
He loved gadgets. He had a mobile phone which was the size of a brick. I remember on holiday in Kos once, he was staying in a flat above a bar. The bar had a TV and video which was broke, so Carl fixed it.
The bar owner was so grateful that Carl didn't pay for a drink for the rest of the holiday.
As a family, we had lots of fun. We used to have parties at Christmas. They were so enjoyable.
I remember one party in particular Carl was dressed as Adam Ant. The parties soon stopped after Carl. We were a very close family.
When they were young, Kevin and Carl shared a room and whereas Kevin was tidy, Carl wasn't, so they argued, but they were still good mates and very close.
Carl was so pleased when he became uncle to Kevin's son, Craig. Carl and Kevin had such plans for Craig and top of their list was teaching him how to play football.
Carl was also very, very protective of Craig. I remember on one occasion Carl stopping a cricket match because Craig had wandered too close to the ropes.
Carl would have also loved his niece and his other nephews, but he didn't get a chance to meet them.
'Cheered me up'
Carl and Gail used to fight like cat and dog when they were younger but Carl was also very protective of her. I remember one night in particular when Gail had a blind date. Carl took her, dropped her off and said, 'Give me a signal if you don't like him. I will come and pick you up'.
Needless to say the date went very well and Gail and Terry got married.
Carl had been going out with his girlfriend Alex for three years. He and Alex would go out with my sister Gail and her boyfriend Terry every Saturday night. Carl was always joking with his Dad and used to call him 'Slaphead'.
Ed was a taxi driver, so when Carl went out for the night he would call Mersey Cabs and ask for his Dad to pick him up. He would say he'd be in his usual spot, which was sitting on the wall at the Adelphi Hotel. Carl loved having his own private chauffeur.
Because I am so short, he always used to tell me I should audition for the stand-in for ET. If we ever got mixed up or if I was ever upset, Carl would say to me, 'What's up? Has your cheese fallen off your cracker?' Whenever I heard this, it cheered me up no end.
Because his Dad worked nights on the taxis, Carl would always be good to me. He knew I enjoyed watching films.
When he was going out, he would always pick a video up and a bottle of wine for me. He even went to the trouble of getting me a small television for my bedroom because he knew I liked to watch television in bed.
He would knock on the bedroom door and ask me if I was okay and say goodnight.
'Heart is at Anfield'
I remember one bank holiday in particular when Carl's Dad was working. Carl came in to me and said, 'Wash your face and get your slap on, I'm taking you out for lunch'. Carl was very, very thoughtful like that.
Carl really was football mad. He liked a German football team, so Kevin bought him their shirt for his 21st birthday. Carl was wearing it when he went to the match at Hillsborough, so Kevin bought another one so he could be buried in it.
Carl was cremated and we placed his ashes at Anfield cemetery and half in the Kop goalmouth. He is a foot from the goal line, not far from where he used to stand when watching his beloved Liverpool play. We always say that Carl's legs are in the goal and his heart is at Anfield.
Shortly before we lost Carl he had been talking about getting a satellite dish so I would watch films and therefore no need to rent any videos.
After he died, I received a phone call from a friend he had worked with. Carl had bought a satellite dish for me and it had arrived at the shop and was ready to be fitted. Carl was so thoughtful like this.
He was special. I know all Mums say this, but he really was. I am so glad I spoilt him in the short years he was here.