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In the wake of Liam Payne‘s tragic death, a group of One Direction fans came together to help raise more than $258,000 for Choose Love, a charity the late singer supported.
The Twitter fan account 1D Alert, which boasts 334.8K followers, wrote on Tuesday, October 22, “It has been a tragic week, but Twitter filled it with love, memories, and magic. We were able to raise £200k+ for the #LiamChooseLove charity campaign. We were able to mourn together, cry together and smile together. ”
The “Night Changes” singer died on October 16 after falling from his third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam died from fracturing his skull and sustaining “very serious injuries,” In Touch confirmed. He was 31 years old. Local authorities claimed the “Strip That Down” singer “jumped from the balcony of his room,” according to the Associated Press.
Liam shared a Snapchat photo showing himself with girlfriend Kate Cassidy an hour before his death. She left Argentina to fly back to home to Florida two days before he died, saying in an October 14 TikTok video she “was so ready to leave” South America after spending two weeks there with Liam.
The “Teardrops” singer partnered in the past with Choose Love to raise money for refugees and humanitarian aid. The money raised came from the sales of a T-shirt the pop star previously designed featuring One Direction.
Choose Love’s Instagram page and founder Dawn O’Porter confirmed the huge sum raised by fans in Liam’s name.
“We will always be so grateful to Liam for the beautiful T-shirt he designed to raise money to support displaced people around the world,” the Instagram post on Tuesday, October 22, read next to a photo of Liam holding the shirt and smiling.
“It’s blown us all away to see how much the T-shirt has been shared this week and to see that £186,500 has been raised in the last week by this beautiful and generous community. These funds will help us continue to get vital care to displaced people all over the world,” Dawn continued. The sum is now more than $258,000, according to the One Direction fan account post.
“We will be forever grateful to Liam and his fans for this incredible act of love,” the post concluded, noting the shirt was still for sale through a link in their bio. Dawn added, “Thank you to you all, and thank you Liam.”
A partial autopsy revealed that Liam had multiple drugs in his system before his death. The 1D fan account noted in their post, “Liam, I’m sorry the world led you to this path, I would do anything to change the series of events that took place … but I hope you see all of the love and support you are getting. I hope you’re proud of all of the amazing things people are doing in your honor.”
The account also addressed Liam’s son Bear, whom he welcomed in 2017 with ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
“Bear, when you get older, I hope you can appreciate the things your father gave to this world. Twitter is an archive of the love, kindness, and history of your father. I’m sorry you do not get the chance to grow up with him like we did. He was a really great person, Bear. You should be proud to have called him dad,” the post noted.
In the comments one fan wrote, “Ordered my shirt today, I know I’m gonna cry again when it gets here,” with a sad faced emoji, while another wrote, “Just ordered,” with a broken heart emoji.
Others said how grateful they were to have each other to lean on following Liam’s death. “So incredibly proud to be part of this family,” one user wrote, while another said, “Once a directioner. Always a directioner.” A fan added, “It’s really helped to be here.”
Cheryl, 41, broke her silence following Liam’s death in an October 18 Instagram post.
“As I try to navigate this Earth-shattering event, and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” the Girls Aloud alum shared, alongside a photo of Liam and their son. “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”
She also worried about how Bear would one day be affected by reading reports of his father’s death, writing, “It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future.” Cheryl concluded, “Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last.”
Prior to Liam’s death, his former fiancée, Maya Henry, claimed she was told by those close to Liam that she would be “blamed” if anything happened to him.
“Even until my book was coming out, even one of his friends was calling me and my mom being like, ‘You know, this isn’t a good time for [Liam], I don’t think you should put the book out,’” Maya, 23, recalled of Liam’s team during an October 14 episode of “The Internet Is Dead” podcast. “‘He’s not doing well, and if something happens to him, you’re not only going to blame yourself – but the whole world is going to blame you.’”
That same day, the model’s legal team confirmed she filed a cease-and-desist order against Liam after Maya claimed he had been obsessively trying to contact her.
“Maya Henry issued a cease-and-desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information,” her legal team told the Daily Mail on October 14. “She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter.”
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