Derbyshire Funeral Videographer — The Pirate-Themed Funeral of "Captain" Kori Stovell
Some funerals stay with you permanently. This is one of them.
On Wednesday 26 July 2023, I travelled to Ripley in Derbyshire to film the funeral of Kori Stovell — known to hundreds of thousands of people around the world as "Captain" Kori. He was 11 years old. I was asked to provide funeral videography and funeral photography by Archway Funeral Services, who arranged the service at All Saints Church in Ripley, with the aim of creating a lasting record for his family and for the online community that had followed Kori's journey.
The streets of Ripley were lined with hundreds of people dressed as pirates. It was unlike anything I had ever seen — and I have filmed over 2,500 funerals across the UK.
Who Was Kori Stovell?
Kori was born on 24 August 2011 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome — a rare congenital condition in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. He underwent multiple surgeries in early childhood, received a heart transplant in 2018, and when that heart began to fail, had a second transplant in January 2020. His body rejected both.
After a traumatic and painful second procedure, Kori, his family and his medical team made the extraordinarily difficult decision not to pursue a third transplant. He was nine years old when that decision was made. He continued to live — with his mum Pixi, his family, and with the hundreds of thousands of people who found him online.
He set up a YouTube channel called Kraken the Box, where he shared his life openly and without pretence — the medical reality alongside the ordinary pleasures of being a child who loved pirates. The channel grew to over 200,000 subscribers. Kori spoke with Johnny Depp, who donned his full Captain Jack Sparrow costume to record a video message arranged through Make-A-Wish, telling Kori: "I am your number one fan, Captain Kori. All the respect and love, mate." Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson also became a subscriber. Kori turned on the Christmas lights in Ripley.
He died on 9 July 2023, at home, in his mum's arms. A pirate flag was placed over him. His captain's hat was beside his bed.
Following the news of Kori's death, Johnny Depp paid tribute on Instagram: "Sail on my fellow captain! You honored us with your life. You humbled and amazed us with the courage and strength to be able to smile through it all... You are a warrior, mate... We will meet again on the highest of seas."
Hundreds Lining the Streets of Ripley — Dressed as Pirates
The funeral cortege moved through the streets of Ripley on 26 July to All Saints Church — and the people of Ripley came out to say goodbye.
Hundreds of them. Dressed as pirates.
Not in a gimmicky, performative way. In the most heartfelt way imaginable — families, children, elderly residents, people who had followed Kori's channel and people who simply knew him as the boy from their town who had shown everyone what courage looked like. They lined the pavement as the hearse passed, many in full pirate costume, hats raised in salute. Some carried flags. Some were weeping. Many were smiling.
As a funeral videographer I photographed and filmed as much of this as I could before taking up position at the church. The sheer scale of the street tribute — in a town that had watched Kori grow up and followed his journey — was something that no words adequately describe. The images say it better.
The Service at All Saints Church, Ripley
Inside All Saints Church, the pirate theme ran through every detail of the day — not as a costume party, but as a genuine expression of who Kori was and what had given him joy and identity throughout his short life. Pirates of the Caribbean had been his comfort during hospital stays. Captain Jack Sparrow had been his hero. The theme was his.
The church was full. Kori's family had shaped a service that balanced the grief of what had happened with the celebration of everything Kori had been — his humour, his honesty about his condition, his extraordinary spirit.
My role throughout as a funeral videographer was to film without intruding. The tributes, the music, the moments of silence, the faces of the people in the pews — all of it captured as quietly and as carefully as I could manage. Alongside the video I was also providing funeral photography — still images of the day that the family could look back on quietly alongside the film. There are moments in this kind of work where you are acutely aware that what you are seeing will matter to people for the rest of their lives, and this was one of those days.
Filming for Family and for 200,000 Subscribers
This funeral presented a particular challenge that most services do not: the funeral videography needed to work for two distinct audiences at the same time.
For Kori's immediate family — his mum Pixi, his close relatives — the film needed to be deeply personal. A record of the day that they could return to privately, when they were ready. Something that reflected the specific love and grief of losing someone they had cared for through extraordinary medical difficulty for eleven years.
For Kori's online community — 200,000 subscribers who had followed his journey, left comments on his videos, sent messages of support, and felt a genuine connection to a boy they had never met — the film also needed to make sense. To show them the send-off. To let them say goodbye too.
Balancing those two things — the intimate and the public, the deeply personal and the widely shared — required care. The family's wishes came first, as they always do. They decided what would be shared with the wider community and what would remain private. My job was simply to make sure they had the material to make that choice.
For families with loved ones abroad or an online community who cannot attend, funeral live streaming is often the best way to include people in real time — allowing hundreds or thousands to watch together as the service unfolds. The choice between a recorded funeral film and a live stream — or combining both — depends entirely on what the family needs. My guide on funeral filming vs live streaming explains the differences in full.
Kori's Legacy — The Captain Kori Foundation
In the days following Kori's death, a fundraiser was set up for the Captain Kori Foundation — a charity planned in his memory. Within a short time, following Johnny Depp's Instagram post sharing the link, it had surpassed £50,000. The foundation continues his legacy — supporting families dealing with heart conditions, and ensuring that the young pirate who inspired the world is not forgotten.
His YouTube channel — Kraken the Box — remains online. His mother Pixi said she would not let it go.
Funeral Videography and Photography in Derbyshire and the East Midlands
This was the most publicly significant funeral I have filmed — but every funeral I attend carries the same responsibility. To be present, to be discreet, and to create something the family will value for the rest of their lives.
If you are arranging a funeral in Derbyshire or across the East Midlands and would like to discuss funeral videography, funeral photography, live streaming, or a tribute film to celebrate a life, I'm happy to talk through what would work for your family.
Call or text me on 07772 509101 — available seven days a week, 9am to 10pm — or get in touch online.
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