Family's tribute to Oliwier Kaczmarowski, 15, found dead in river near Gainsborough in May

The mother of a 15-year-old boy whose body was found in a river has paid tribute to her "protective" and "calm" son.

Oliwier Kaczmarowski was reported missing on 22 May. He was found dead in the River Trent near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, four days later.

In a statement released by Lincolnshire Police, Oliwier's mother said: “It’s hard to find the words to describe how we’re feeling. We still can’t believe that he’s gone. I don’t think it’s properly hit us yet that he is gone.

“As his mum, I still can’t go inside his room. Sometimes we don’t know what to say when people ask us about him.

"We have so many precious memories of Oliwier and I’m sure his friends have their own memories of him. We will treasure those memories we had with him."

She described how Oliwier became the "man of the house" after his father died.

"It was such a big responsibility, but he helped his siblings by being there for them when they were going through a hard time," she said.

“Even though he bickered with his siblings a lot, he was incredibly protective. He always thought he was good at fighting and play fighting, but we all knew he wasn’t!"

His mother said Oliwier had a small group of close friends who he enjoyed going out with, and that she was recently told he had stepped in to help someone who had been bullied.

“He was very calm, he helped around the house by going food shopping, taking parcels to the post office and he was very funny," she said.

Almost £7,000 has been raised online to support Oliwier's family.

Gainsborough Academy school and West Lindsey District Council are planning to plant a tree in his memory.

Oliwier's mother said her family was "incredibly grateful" to the community for coming together to help with the search for him, and to support them during that time.

"There were people who didn’t even know Oliwier who came to help, and people have said nothing but great things about him. For that, my family are thankful," she said.

"Some days, it can be painful to think about Oliwier not being here and that we’ve lost our man of the house. We love you and we will miss you Oliwier."

Oliwier's death is not being treated as suspicious. A file has been prepared for the coroner.

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