Darren Yates

Darren was my Step Brother. He intrigued me,inspired me and also frightened me in some ways. He was so intense about his interests, passionate and thirsty for knowledge. He was possibly a genius, definitely an individual, and someone to be admired in so many ways. His knack for understanding and solving technical problems always impressed me. He loved to test and prod to see how things ticked. This included his interactions with me, and I remember often being challenged and flustered we tried to figure each other out. I'm not sure I ever got comfortable with Darren but I cherish my time with him, the things I learnt from him, and I have so much respect for his intensity and convictions. He was a troubled soul, searching and pushing against the norms with courage and passion. I miss him and remember him with love and admiration.

Oh Darren. Kei te rongo atu au i a koe i te ahi pō nei. I've been connected recently with someone who reminds me of you in certain ways. Some of the parts of you that your sister Nadine has spoken and written back into te ao mārama again and again. Your presence is felt. And its funny for someone to remind me of you, when I didn't know you. But really I think I am reminded of what's important, of what love looks like, of just how precious our connections are to one another. Ngā mihi aroha ki a koe, Darren, ki tō whānau anō hoki, ki te ao, ki te pō, ki a tātou katoa. Xx

Thinking of you mate. You had a brilliant and natural engineering mind which I figured out pretty quickly becuase you wouldn't shut up about it. Socially awkward, yes .....but that comes with the engineering mind. You knew this and always wanted to better yourself, you did in many ways. I remember asking you after about a year of knowing you....here Darren why do you have a huge redbull logo on your neck???? (Thinking he had maybe worked for red bull doing something mad....he looked at me with a smirk like I was a complete idiot and said "becuase I like red bull Steve duh"!!! Hahaha I said to him I like potatoes but I don't have one tattooed on my neck? Red bull is cool, potatoes aren't Steve. Lol I couldn't help but like Darren he was a good soul and a bit mad! From Scotland Stephen & Kyrie

I love your sister Nadine, and even though we don't connect that frequently, I can see that she loves you infinitely and her writing of you, her memories and dedication to honouring that love moves me. Rest easy, it is obvious how very loved you are, and continue to be by many xx

My uncle was a legend I remember coming home from school one time to see Darren and his mate on there hands n knees in the garage with a blow torch and out of curiosity I asked what you Upto and he goes we’re melting these old spoons for the silver. I asked why and he looked at me like I was thick, “for money of course” they then spent the next like four hours or so trying and not really succeeding. Although I’m sure he would tell it differently. Rest easy uncle

To my best friend I think about you every day , thank you for the time you allowed me to spend with you and get to see how you ticked I miss you around Darren.