Hunter Valley wedding bus crash: Groom, Mitchell Gaffney, speaks at his mate’s funeral

The groom who lost 10 of his wedding guests in the bus crash in the Hunter Valley last month has bravely spoken at the funeral of one of his fallen friends.

Mitchell Gaffney remembered his mate Zachary Bray, 29, as a ‘loveable larrikin’ when he addressed mourners at the Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium in North Sydney on Tuesday.

Both Mr Bray and Mr Gaffney played for the same AFL club, the Singleton Roosters, and became friends on and off the field.

Mr Bray was one of 10 people who died when a bus transporting 35 guests from the wedding of Mr Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell rolled near Greta on June 11.

Both Mr Bray (pictured) and Mr Gaffney played for the same AFL club, the Singleton Roosters, and became friends on and off the field 

His funeral is the second last of the 10 victims, with many of the mourners travelling to Singleton next week to honour mother and daughter, Nadine and Kyah McBride.

‘Although you will never get the chance to pull the jumper on again, you will always be there by our side,’ Mr Gaffney said.

Mr Bray’s teammates also paid tribute to the keen AFL player and other club members lost in the crash with a community run on Saturday.

Local players wore black armbands during their games to honour the 10 victims.

Remembered as fighter, Ms Bray had beaten cancer at the age of 25 and become a staunch advocate for awareness charities.

He was also in a loving relationship at the time of his death, with his girlfriend Georgie Copeland saying: ‘My heart hurts, and I can’t deny it’.

‘I know that it hurts deeply because it was deeply real.’

His mother, Jacqui Varasdi, said raising Mr Bray was her greatest achievement.

Mr Bray was one of 10 people who died when a bus transporting 35 guests from the wedding of Mr Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell rolled near Greta (crash scene pictured) 

The 35 passengers on the bus had just left the wedding of Mr Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell (both pictured) in the Hunter Valley

‘To see you here laying in this box, just doesn’t make any sense.’

An avid pilot, Mr Bray’s father, Adam, commemorated him simply with ‘over and out, rest in peace my beautiful boy’.

Adam recently told 9News that he was stopped by police when he tried to walk up the embankment towards the bus, which was still on its side, looking for his son.

‘I just said, “my son’s on that bus”, and they said to me, “if your son is on that bus, honestly you don’t want to see him”.’

‘I just sat on the ground, on my own, and broke down, for an hour.’

The bus driver at the center of the crash, 58-year-old Brett Andrew Button, was granted bail on June 13 having been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

He is set to face Newcastle Local Court on August 9.