On the Eleventh hour of the Eleventh day of the Eleventh Month, William Dennis Onion fell from Crib Goch, Mount Snowdon. William had no chance of survival and was pronounced dead as soon as the air ambulance got to him. Their description haunts me to this day “Incompatible with life”.
At around 18:45 that night the Police called to our house to tell us (Williams family) the news. I (Ally, Wills Father) met the police, they started telling me a story, a story that seemed to last an hour, I’m sure it was seconds/minutes. I remember staring at those two police constables and as they changed to two people playing a very nasty joke and as their uniform stripped away from them I thought “get to the fucking point”, has William broke his legs? Has he broke his back? How do we get to him quickly?
After what seemed a lifetime the Lady Police Constable said those words no one wants to hear, no Sister wants to hear, no Mother wants to hear or no Father wants to hear, “William has died”. My Son was gone our Son was gone, a Brother was gone, a grandson, a Nephew, a cousin, a boyfriend, a friend, a colleague, a leader and a veteran.
Since that day our life has never been the same and our life will never be the same again, everything has changed, every second of every day is different, nothing is enjoyable, nothing to look forward too with the same enthusiasm or enjoyment that we used to have.
William to us, Will to his friends, Pickles to his Royal Signals friends and colleagues and coach_pickles to everyone else
Most wouldn’t know the circumstances, I’ll not go into detail. William fell on 11/11, his Mums birthday, his Granda’s birthday and the same day my Granda died, also the same date a cousins son was born, what that all means I doubt I’ll never know, if its just a coincidence, its certainly a big one.
Williams friend Sarah rang Mountain rescue, an air ambulance arrived but could do nothing for William, the coast Guard airlifted Llanberis Mountain rescue Team to the scene and they took over as the air ambulance had to go to an RTA. There were six on Crib Goch that day including William.
Dan and Mollie climbed down to try and help William on an alternative route, but the mountain rescue team were already there and they advised them not to come to close. Dan and Mollie risked their own lives to try and get to William, we are forever grateful.
I said I wasn’t going to go into detail and I wont, but the remaining five learned quite quickly that William had died, they should never of been told until they were safe on the ground and with support, the fault doesn’t lie with any of the qualified teams.
Mollie and Dan were lifted down by helicopter along with William and were in the LMRT headquarters for over four hours waiting on the others,the support they got from LMRT was amazing.
The rest of Williams team, Kelly, Rebecca and Sarah were left on the ridge, a helicopter tried to get to them but there wasn’t enough up draught for it to land. LMRT had to climb up to bring them down safely, they were aware as I said, that William had died, they had witnessed him falling, they were in shock, they were cold and they were traumatised. LMRT got to them after four hours and guided them down, this involved them winching them up some parts, winching them down other parts, guiding them with ropes and many more hurdles, all the time absolutely traumatised.
I hadn’t realised what the others had went through, as you can imagine we have been on auto-pilot since 11th November 2023, I hadn’t realised until myself and Amy and Williams team “Team83” attended the inquest on the 26 June 2024 and then went to visit LMRT and thank them for everything, it was there I was made more aware of what had happened afterwards. We hugged, we cried and LMRT also cried, they are normal people just like us and each tragedy affects them very much.
Team83 set themselves a challenge along with us, to raise £11000 by the 11th of the 11th 2024, one year to the day.
Instead we raised over £34500, thanks to everyone that has donated!!!!
Team83 held a raffle in Bournemouth, prizes donated by fabulous businesses, I attended as the winners were announced, Team83 also done a 100KM run, I know, mad! and they have been raising money in other ways, of course Motorhome crack members have also donated a large amount.
This is why we have created Pickles Prizes, LMRT as you now know were absolutely brilliant on the day, the welsh government gives all the Mountain rescue teams £3500 between them all, it costs Llanberis £130,000 per year to operate, their equipment is very pricey.
All of their money comes from donations, they are all volunteers.
They need new premises, currently operating out of a church hall, they need dedicated equipment and offices, they also need seperate rooms for those rescued, for instance, Dan and Mollie waited in their kitchen for over four hours on the others, whilst obviously traumatised. They need a proper room for relatives and those injured, basically they need over a million pound to achieve this, They are the busiest mountain rescue team in the UK, they deserve our support, they deserve government support but just like the air ambulance and so many services they are charity funded and unfortunately we cant help them all, but can help LMRT in a small way.
William and Jake Best ran March4Movember, a 21 mile hike from Lulworth Cove to Swanage every year, this started off with around 12 veterans and has quickly grown to hundreds taking part. One of the charities that they raised money for, was and still is, Rock 2 Recovery.
“Rock 2 Recovery is dedicated to saving and transforming the lives of individuals in the Armed forces, veterans, their immediate family members and funded 999 services, who are facing difficult challenges”
William knew the R2R team and quickly after Williams accident they offered their help to everyone on the Mountain that day, they have been a great help and as far as I am aware, even to this day 18/07/2025 they are still helping some of those that were with William that day. They are a charity that only exist by fundraising.
After William fell the hiking community gathered around to help, one of the ways they helped was to give money to a Gofundme to help us, his family and wow did it help!! over £8000 raised and as William was from Northern Ireland, his family all still live there. We cant remember how many times we flew back and forth, so the money raised was a great help in so many ways!
Two days after Williams funeral we attended M4M which had been renamed too March 4 Pickles, a sea of orange hats greeted us, over 350 people had attended to show their support to us, to his friends, to remember him, to thank him, in respect of him and to chat about him. We were so much in shock at that time, but the warmth shown to us by all these people whom we had never met was breathtaking, it was emotional and it was beautiful.
Today; 18/07/2025, I sit here writing this, a changed person in a changed family to explain what all of the above has meant to us and how Pickles Prizes has came about…..
On the March 4 Pickles, Curt, Williams neighbour, told me a story about William, how he had met him, what William had done for him, how he had changed his life for the better. Curt wasn’t the only one, there were many!! the stories were amazing, we had no idea. Its all a bit of a blur with it being so soon after the accident and Williams funeral. But some struck me, Curt told me his story, Curt told me how William had gotten him off alcohol along with so many others and then said, jokingly (I think) “I know what he was doing, he was going to get everyone off Alcohol and then bring out Pickles alcohol free beer” to be honest, it wouldn’t of surprised me.
I went to sleep that night, exhausted, not as exhausted as Amy, Williams sister, who with no preparation decided she would try the hike, she done very well!!
But I was exhausted with emotion, the next morning as I lay in bed, Curts words came back to me and I quickly realised what we had to do, we had to create something that would keep Williams legacy alive, that would thank those that came to his aid, that would thank the hiking community, that would raise money for the charities that William raised for and would raise money to help mountain rescue, the very people that will always come to the aid of future hikers if they need them.
Here we have it “Pickles Prizes”.
ROCK2RECOVERY, the charity that helps veterans, armed forces personnel, and emergency responders find their way through the hardest times. They were there for William’s friends after the accident and they are still helping them to this day.
LLANBERIS MOUNTAIN RESCUE, the team that went up the ridge to bring William back, and supported his friends in the aftermath. They are entirely volunteer based and rely completely on public donations to do the vital work they do.
LOUGH NEAGH RESCUE
And other brilliant charities that reflect the kindness, courage, and community William lived by every single day
Win awesome rewards with Pickles Prizes! Enter now for incredible watches the latest gear, gadgets, and much more, while supporting Coach William’s cherished causes!
