I
received a call around midnight from Jamie’s mobile, thinking it was him
calling to say 'goodnight'. No, this was the call every parent dreads!
A call from his friends - Jamie had collapsed to the floor. Paramedics tried
for an hour to resuscitate him, they told me afterwards that he had no pulse
on arrival! In time, Cardiomyopathy was diagnosed. There was nothing
anyone could have done.
Sink or Swim? We choose 'Swim' - keeping
positive and strong to survive this tragic loss. Jamie is always close
by.
The support of friend’s, family and local media has been
amazing; this has helped us get through our days of 'How?' and 'Why?'
Jamie's school were brilliant, very supportive, both
friends and teachers. They even notified Sir Alex Ferguson (Man Utd
Manager) - Jamie was a keen supporter and within 2 days of this we received
a lovely letter from Sir Alex. What a professional, humble man he is.
Jamie was also a very good darts player, so good he would
play in the adults league, and last September (2008) he got to a final in
London.
The
Andover Darts Academy have been brilliant. On Saturday 1st August the Darts
Open Youth Academy did a competition and presentation all for Jamie.
Adrian Lewis - Jamie’s favourite Pro - came down
to present and play. They have named this event from now on "The JAMIE G
Youth Open". How proud are we! £2000 was raised for our Trust.
It is now 6 months and not a day goes by without us of thinking about and
missing him - his smell, his skin, his smiling face.
Most days we get through with our positive thoughts,
keeping busy and knowing he is proud of what has happened since he began his
new life in Heaven.
As my husband says, "In Jamie’s world he is working in
Astral time now - so 10 years could be 10 minutes! So we will see Jamie in
about 30-40 minutes!" I smiled when he said this to me.
Jamie’s
Celebration Service, Friday 27th March 2009
Amazing - over 800 people attended, the most ever since The Princess Diana
Tribute!
No hymns, just songs that Jamie loved and would sing and
listen too, all appropriate to who he was, the lyrics the tunes were
perfect.
We sang.
We laughed.
We cried.
All our emotions were shared and we were proud. The
Service ended with the release of 7 white Doves - they flew, they circled,
they said goodbye, we said goodbye. 7 being his favourite number and his
football shirt number - Captain of his team. The sun shone and I knew Jamie
was safe.
We have set up a 'Jamie G Sporting Trust' and have a Committee of very
professional friends that will help this to grow and make dreams come true
for 11 - 16 year olds in Andover. We want this to be local to ‘give
back to the community’ - it is what Jamie was all about, giving and helping
others. We will launch this Trust at our first 'Jamie G Gala Ball' in
November. Fundraising events, wrist bands - "Jamie G Keep Smilin' " - and a
special song / CD by our friend Tim Cronin brought more funds in for our
Trust. So proud, So grateful.
The Jamie G Sporting Trust
This Trust has been established to preserve the memory
and reflect the personality of Jamie Gentleman: a young and
competitive sportsman from Andover. He demonstrated the highest standards of
team spirit and sportsmanship. The purpose of the Trust is to raise
funds from charitable donations and to distribute them in support of
sporting activities for the young people in the Andover area. The
beneficiaries include individuals, sports clubs and other sporting
organisations.
After
care for us
We have had heart scans and ECGs to date and have
appointments made at Southampton General for MRI Scans, treadmill tests and
heart monitoring 24-hour tests.
It is great that we have been offered this - they
certainly are looking after us. Our main concerns are for Tommy, our
eldest son, aged 21.
The Heart Specialist has been very helpful and has spent
a lot of time with us going through every detail regarding our future
wellness, and how Jamie passed away.
The Inquest also clarified Jamie’s passing. BBC South
were present and this was televised that evening, very professional and in
everyone’s interest as Jamie was such a fit and healthy boy.
Creating awareness is the way forward
Andover Sound, our local radio, and local Press have been
very supportive of this. Our community has been right behind us and we
feel we owe it to the town to share this.
My story is endless. It hurts deep to think we
cannot have him physically around, but somehow know he is spiritually, this
works for us, some days.
I wonder "Why?" and "How?" but I don’t get the answers.
All
we know is we must continue to keep positive and remember the great times we
shared with him, to be grateful of almost 14 years of a wonderful, special
son. Jamie lived his life to the full! From 7am to late at night he would
want to BE - doing, talking, sporting, laughing, chilling - he certainly had
a great young life.
I make no apology for going on, it helps to share and create awareness of
how important this is - we all need to know - and of course to share and
talk of a wonderful soul that is so missed and loved by everyone.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Love and much light.
Night-night, sleep tight,
don’t let the bedbugs bite – we miss and love you Jamie.
