A community joined in celebration of the life of a courageous teenager as she was laid to rest in a Mearns ceremony.
As the sound of the pipes rang out in St Cyrus, a convoy of tractors led Hanna Whyte to her final resting place in the village churchyard, just days after she tragically succumbed to a rare form of cancer on her 19th birthday.
Only two months ago, Hanna was diagnosed with the choroid plexus carcinoma condition that also took the life of her brother, Corrie, when he was 23 months old.
Mourners met the family’s request of wearing bright colours to remember a daughter her parents, Angela and Billy, had described as “brave, caring and giving”.
A special part in the funeral was also played by the Howe o’ the Mearns Pipe Band, with which Hanna’s younger sister, Samanatha, is a snare drummer.
Samantha, 12, had wished her sister a happy 19th birthday last week before setting off for school and after her mum had read her birthday cards to her Hanna passed away.
Her devastated family had earlier paid tribute to the courage of their daughter, saying she had never complained following the heartbreaking diagnosis of the life-threatening illness.
An operation to remove one of Hanna’s tumours was carried out but experts could not treat a second.
The pipe band has been involved in a fundraising drive to help pay for Hanna’s funeral and donations can still be made at www.justgiving.com/yimby/THEBIGWAXOFF.