Bath Abbey was full to capacity for the deeply moving funeral of Sammuel Amin, the 18-year-old believed to have drowned in the River Avon.
Traffic came to a standstill as members of Bath Air Cadets drummed and marched as the coffin was led in, followed by the grieving family.
The congregation of young people from schools across the city, the Pakistani community from Bath and all over the country, former teachers, and family friends from Twerton and all over Bath, heard several speakers say what a truly wonderful, aspirational and promising young man he was.
Friends and family wore bright colours - at the request of the family, and hundreds of people from the Pakistani community travelled from cities around the UK including Manchester and Birmingham.
English and Pakistani hymns were sung at the service which embraced both cultures in a moving tribute to a promising young man who was the pride of his family and community.
Rev Richard Wilson, vicar at St Michael and All Angels Church in Twerton and a close friend of the family said how Sammuel's death had touched the lives of everybody in the city. He said: " Not only is this a tragedy for the family, it is a tragedy for the whole city. We have all lost one of our sons, the landscape of all our lives has changed."
Sam's father, Amin Sadiq, spoke in his native language from Pakistan to thank everyone in the city who had helped the family during the tragedy. He also thanked Bath Abbey for allowing the service to be held there.
The people of Twerton came out in force as pupils, staff and parents from St Michael's Junior School, the former Culverhay School and Hayesfield School came to pay their respects to a bright young man lost from their close community.
Many tributes were paid to the 18-year-old with the brightest of futures. Former teacher David Goucher, from St Michael's Junior School in Twerton, said: "Sam was someone very special, always with that radiant, cheeky smile, he had an eagerness to learn and we have some wonderful memories of him."
He said he was a very able pupil, with a bright future and he spoke about his success as a badminton player - Sam was a keen sportsman, as well as an able student and musician.
After St Michaels Sam went on to Culverhay School, now Bath Community Academy. Many friends, former pupils and staff from Culverhay, where he will be remembered as a very polite, bright and agreeable young man, attended the funeral.
Close friends Max Thomson, Toby Scoggins, Connor Gillard, Kelby Turner-White, Ben Ward and Jack Daniel wore native Pakistani dress, and spoke of the boy who was "the best friend anyone could every have."
Toby Scoggins said: " I never heard anyone say a bad word about Sam Amin, he was a natural leader and he helped all of us."
Sam went to Hayesfield for sixth form and fellow pupil Kerry McCullagh said: " He was a fantastic student, a joy to teach, always first to get involved in everything, hard working, kind, a genuine breath of fresh air."
She described how he mentored and helped younger pupils in maths and physics, always wanting to help other people.
His A level subjects were maths, physics and English literature and, after successful results at A Level, he was due to begin a course in engineering at Birmingham University for the start of the new term last week.
Family friend Qamar Rafiq said: "It is a great honour to know such an amazing family. The Amins are a God fearing family, who lead a quiet life, in a quiet suburb in this lovely city."
The family was supportive of a project in Twerton to help survivors of a suicide bomb which killed 250 people in Peshawar, Pakistan, exactly one year ago on Sept 29, the day of the funeral.
The 18-year-old's body was found in the River Avon more than a week ago.
Sammuel had been on a night out in the city centre on September 12 when he went missing. A search was launched by police and his friends, but his body was found four days later.
The tragedy has led to calls for more safety measures to be taken to prevent further accidents at the river, and Bath and North East Somerset Council has pledged to pay £400,000 towards improvements.
Rev Wilson said: "This is not the time or place, but something must be done and we must work together as a city to prevent further deaths. Six young men have lost their lives, that is six too many and we must work together to ensure we never reach a seventh."
A retiring collection for a project to make the river safer was held after the the funeral.
The Amin family, who moved from Pakistan when Sam was three, live in Twerton, where they are active members of the local church and community.
Sam's older sisters Sana, Annie and Ephrath, have been members of St Michael and All Angels Church since moving to Bath.
He was an only son, a gift from God, said Rev Wilson. "He was a golden son, a sign of abundance from God," he said.
He people in the city, and he also thanked Avon and Somerset police who he said were "so caring, sensitive and supportive" to the family in the last few weeks.
Sam's mother works as a nurse at the Royal United Hospital, and many of her colleagues attended the funeral.
After the tragedy a vigil was held at the church in Twerton where more than 200 friends and family members lit candles and said prayers.
A roll of paper, more than ten metres long, was filled with messages from people trying to express what Sammuel meant to them.
The funeral service was followed by a burial at Haycombe Cemetery.
