Grant Capell
I lost my baby brother Grant
Capell on the 20th March 2007. He was only 16 years old!
He was out playing with
friends, outside my parents' house in Ireland in the evening. He was
giving a young girl a piggy back, when he put her down and complained of
being tired and then just fell down unconscious. Unfortunately, although he
still had a faint pulse, they tried for 40 minutes to resuscitate him but to
no avail. He died there on the pavement at around 10.50pm
My dad phoned me at my home
in London straight afterwards and told me. I remember feeling as if my
heart had been ripped out from my chest. I spent the rest of that evening
and the following morning trying to get a flight to Ireland as soon as
possible. I managed to get a flight for the Wednesday afternoon but only
arrived that evening. There is nothing worse than being so far away from
your family when something this awful happens.
The post-mortem showed that
he had an enlarged heart but this was not the cause of death… we are still
waiting to see if anything abnormal can be found but at this stage they are
saying there is nothing out of place.
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I last saw my
brother in October, just over 5 months before this. I remember us having a tea
towel fight in the kitchen, annoying my mum extremely! There are so many things
I would have done differently if I knew that would be the last time I was going
to see him.
He was a real
gentle giant… taller than my mum, dad and me already. He was one of the kindest
people I know and was like a big brother to the whole estate where he lived. He
would often look after the younger children and make sure that he stood up for
those who were being picked on unfairly. Most mothers on the estate would only
let their young children go out to play if Grant was out there.
He loved
flying model airplanes and his ambition was to be pilot. He suffered from
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder as well as Dyslexia, so
unfortunately this probably wouldn't have happened, but I would have helped him
as much as possible.
He also loved
all of God's creatures. We both grew up in Zimbabwe, and he had many pets,
including a python and at one stage a crocodile which he kept at my uncle Mike's
reptile park.
I can't
believe someone with so much to give, so full of life, could be taken from this
world so unjustly. I am still in shock and feel very empty and angry. This is
the kind of thing you think will never happen to you!
I miss him so
much. Although there is 7 years difference between us, we had a unique
closeness and loved each other unconditionally. We kind of completed each
other. I calmed him down and helped him to see things rationally, and he always
managed to make me feel joy when I thought there was none, and happiness when
the world looked grey.
I would do
anything to be able to see him grow up into the man I knew he would become.
Caring and gentle - things this world lacks.
I will love
you always baby bro, and will always have this emptiness in my heart which you
once filled.
Sapphire Capell
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