![\"Zacharias](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_ith-his-best-friend-Zacharias-Atkinson-better-known-as-Puddy.jpg\")
Zacharias Atkinson, right, known by his loved ones as Puddy, with his close friend James Watson(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\nZacharias Atkinson, better known as Puddy, died unexpectedly last year<\/p>\n
16:53, 24 Dec 2025Updated 18:40, 24 Dec 2025<\/p>\n
Zacharias Atkinson, right, known by his loved ones as Puddy, with his close friend James Watson(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n
A man thinks about his best friend “every day” after he died at work. Zacharias Atkinson, known by his loved ones as Puddy, died just weeks before Christmas Day in 2024 following an accident at work.<\/p>\n
Merseyside Police were called at around 1.10pm on Wednesday, December 11 to Langton Dock in Bootle<\/a>, off Regent Road but the 19 year-old from Old Swan<\/a> was found dead at the scene. His heartbroken family said his life was “taken in the most horrific circumstances.”<\/p>\n In a tribute<\/a>, shared by Merseyside Police<\/a> at the time<\/a>, they said: \u201cOur beautiful boy Puddy has had his young life taken in the most horrific circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cHe loved life and lived every moment to the fullest. He loved Liverpool Football Club<\/a>, he adored every one of his friends and family. Our family and all of his friends are devastated beyond words. Nobody should go to work and not come home.\u201d<\/p>\n Puddy\u2019s story resonated with people from Merseyside and beyond, with banners in his honour hung from the stands at Liverpool matches and thousands raised for his funeral costs.<\/p>\n A year on from Puddy\u2019s death, his close friend James Watson, 20, from Norris Green<\/a>, said they met when they started West Derby<\/a> School in Tuebrook and quickly became best mates.<\/p>\n James told the ECHO<\/a> last month: “We dropped him off at his house on Tuesday night then the next day we got the worst phone call I have ever got.<\/p>\n “His mum and his family had to go to the docks and then they started ringing us all [his friendship group] telling us what had happened. I’ll never forget that phone call.”<\/p>\n Now, James is preparing for an emotional Christmas day. Since December 1, he has been running every day.<\/p>\n The 25 days of running will conclude tomorrow and the finish line will be at Puddy\u2019s family home. By the time he wraps up, James will have run 325 miles in memory of his friend.<\/p>\n All money raised will go towards Alder Hey Children’s Charity. On why he decided to take up the enormous challenge, James told the ECHO today: \u201cI\u2019ve got loads of memories of him. You think about them every day obviously because he\u2019s not around.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main goal was to take people\u2019s minds off it. Everyone\u2019s going to sit around and think about how sad it\u2019s been.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a way to bring a bit more happiness to the month of December. Everyone\u2019s chipped in. The lad\u2019s have done some of the runs. I speak to his mum every day about it, so it\u2019s just a bit of a distraction really.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen people do 325km, so I thought I\u2019d up the ante and do it in miles. I’ve done a full marathon once, but believe me, it seems like a walk in the park now compared to what this has been like.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m running in the torrential rain. I went on holiday to Amsterdam and I had to run there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to the run, Puddy\u2019s legacy will be spread quite literally across the city. James said: \u201cI made a list when I started the run of places that meant something to either me and Puddy or his other friends and family.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got stickers that say RIP Puddy on, so they\u2019ve been stuck in pubs we used to go to, there’s one outside our school where we used to play sports, there’s one outside Anfield<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The run will finish tomorrow when James arrives at Puddy\u2019s family house, where he will be greeted by Puddy\u2019s family and his own.<\/p>\n James said: \u201cI thought I’d finish it on Christmas Day because it brings everyone together. I\u2019m finishing at his house.<\/p>\n \u201cThe emotion will take over, just the relief of finishing and obviously seeing all this family and what it’s for. I know the tiny tears will probably come.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to say a big thank you for the support. I know it’s me who’s doing the running, but I obviously wouldn’t have been able to do even half of it without all the donations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it\u2019s nothing compared to losing Puddy. That\u2019s the whole point – what I\u2019ve been through is nothing compared to last year.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Puddy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Zacharias-Atkinson-aka-Puddy.jpg\")
Puddy died following an industrial accident at the Langton Dock(Image: Family\/Merseyside Police)<\/p>\n