‘His last act was a heroic one’ – tragic Grand Canal drowning victim tried to save friend’s life, funeral hears

The bodies of Alex Warnick (42) and Donal Scanlon (49) were found at 8am on Saturday, July 6, at a section of the canal near Grand Parade and the Charlemont Luas stop.

The “inseparable pair”, who were both homeless, had been sleeping in two adjacent tents on the canal bank close to where their bodies were found.

Mourners gathered at Glasnevin Crematorium on Finglas Road today to celebrate the “wild and carefree” life of Mr Warnick, who was originally from Oregon, in the United States but had lived most of his life in Ireland.

“He was a unique character, to say the least,” his friend Brian, also known as Beaver – one of five friends to tell the story of Alex’s life – told those in attendance, adding that “he was one of the best people I ever met”.

“This man brought elements and experiences and adventures into my life that I never could have anticipated,” he said.

He recalled how they first became friends through making music together.

They were an unlikely pair, Mr Warnick, a popular digital psytrance music creator, and Beaver, a rock ‘n’ roll acoustic guitar player and singer.

“Being a qualified sound engineer, I know the hard work that goes into taking samples, which are sounds with a digital recorder, where you go around your house or your environment, taking simple sounds and then manipulating them into the beautiful music of psytrance.

“And that’s what Alex did. He was a cut above the rest.

“He might turn up to the festival incapable of standing, but he would get up and he would give the best gig of the day…they (other performers) all held him up on a pedestal,” his friend Brian said.

Mourners also heard from one of Mr Warnick’s best friends, Nick, who met him in 1998 at a skate park in Ireland, when they were both teenagers.

They instantly hit it off and became best friends, getting on “like a house on fire”, sharing their first love of DJing and music, which they got involved in from 2002.

“He took me to my first party… and not long later we started to travel and went around many parts of Europe, had a great time and then life unfortunately got in the way…I wish we had the chance to reconnect again … it is such a shame because he was my best friend.

“He was the nicest guy I ever knew. I will regret that for the rest of time now,” he said.

Mourners also heard from Brian that Mr Warnick was a “world class chef” and “could cook anything” and even designed his own menu at a restaurant on the River Liffey while working there as a cook, which led to the business tripling their productivity.

“When he put his hand to anything, he really committed. As a sworn atheist and as a man who didn’t like people and who particularly doesn’t like Americans, he had a massive amount of tolerance.

“The only subject you couldn’t get into banter with Alex was organised religion, he would just shut down and walk off. But because he was such good friends with us, his Irish street family, he would have those conversations with us… people from all walks of life,” he said.

Those in attendance heard how Mr Warnick’s last act in life was both a “selfless” and a “heroic” one before his tragic drowning.

“He saw that that man was struggling and Alex’s last act was to put his own self preservation aside and jump into that canal and try and save that man’s life.

“The bittersweet of it is that he is no longer with us, that being the bitter and the sweet being that he gave his life in service to try and help another homeless guy because he was there… and it was the right thing to do,” Brian said.

Mourners also heard that Mr Warnick would pride himself on telling you exactly how he felt, what the truth was and he would be “unapologetic” about it.

They also heard that he “did not suffer fools lightly” but if he liked you, he would go to hell a thousand times to “find a way to make you laugh or smile, no matter what”.

Mr Warnick’s father Greg, delivered the final address to mourners, via Facetime from the United States, as most of his family members tuned into the livestream from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Through tears, he thanked those who had been there for his son.

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s Over The Rainbow played out through the intercom, giving Mr Warnick’s adopted Dublin street family a chance to say their final goodbyes.

Summing up his character, one of them said he embodied the phrase “homeless, not hopeless” which was something he “taught them all to live by”.