Former Coronation Street star Charlie de Melo has paid heartbreaking tribute to one of his close friends David Schofield after his death at the age of 34.
The actor, who is known for his role as Imran Habeeb on the ITV soap, called Dave’s death ‘enormous’ and said it had left him ‘painfully and agonisingly’ thinking about ‘the nature of life and death’.
Dave was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour called a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma in 2020, having previously had both thyroid and kidney cancer earlier in his life.
He underwent two major surgeries, radiotherapy and three types of chemotherapy, but sadly died at the end of last month.
Sharing a series of pictures of his friendship with Dave on Instagram, Charlie wrote: ‘Anyone who was lucky enough to be in Dave’s orbit knows the vacuum his absence has left. His loss is enormous, permanent, and for which I feel eternally grateful.
‘This past week has forced me to think. Endlessly think. Painfully, agonisingly think. I’ve thought about the nature of life, of death. How short all of our time is. Dave’s more so than most. How cosmically unlikely it was that I would ever get a chance to ever meet, connect, and love this man. How small his window was and yet I got a chance to gaze through it. To marvel at his open-heartedness, his curiosity, his generosity of spirit, his love of life, and love itself. My god, that man *loved* love.’
Charlie continued: ‘Dave was dealt a tough hand. A losing hand, perhaps to some. But he never stopped playing, he never stopped betting on himself. He took a terminal diagnosis and never once used it as a reason to die, but a reason to live.
‘He hated being referred to as inspirational (ironically enough, inspiring us more), but it’s hard to think of a more fitting moniker. Dave is, was, and remains an endless well of inspiration to us all.
‘He talked a lot about legacy. What it means, how best to achieve it. Wanting to leave a small mark on the world after you’ve gone.
‘I’ve seen it first hand, I’ve experienced it and will continue to. His effect on those around him (of which there are many!) is as perfect a legacy for him as I can imagine.’
Charlie said he first met David through playing the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons, where he said his friend’s ‘natural curiosity and disregard for the rules, led us, as a group to defer any and all decision making to him’.
He explained: ‘”What would you like to do?” We would be asked.
‘”We look to the boy.” We would respond. Every. Single. Time.
‘It’s a mantra that’s branched out into our lives, our decision-making moving forward. We’ve seen Dave’s respond to crisis after crisis. Rolling with the (seemingly endless) punches, creating new normals, adapting and carrying on with good humour, grace, and so much love. I’ll never stop being proud of him for that.’
Charlie said he had since ‘marked his skin’ with that mantra so that it ‘stays with me.’
He added: ‘My time with Dave was all too short, but his inspiration will stick with me.
Now and forever more. We Look To The Boy.’
