David Higgins from Kerry and Alex McGourty from Sligo lost their lives while kayaking in Ecuador earlier this month.

Friends of David Higgins and Alex McGourty have launched a fundraising campaign to help alleviate the cost of repatriating their bodies after they died tragically in a kayaking accident in Ecuador earlier this month. The two Irishmen passed away after a group of kayakers got into difficulty during a flash flood on the river Abanico in the southeast of the country on 20 January. Two men, including a local guide, managed to survive, while the fifth member of the group, 22-year-old Welshman Adam Vaughan, remains missing. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] David Higgins and Alex McGourty[/caption] In the wake of the tragedy, friends of David and Alex have set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to go towards supporting their journey home. David and Alex are described as "vibrant, kind souls who lived life to its full potential, and words cannot describe what they meant to their family and friends". By Saturday afternoon, three days after the page was set up, €11,000 of the goal of €15,000 had been raised, with over 200 people contributing to the cause. For more information and to make a donation, you can check out the GoFundMe page here.