He was a typical teenage lad, liked nights out with his friends and spent a lot of time with his girlfriend of almost 3 years, Jodie.

He had been to work that day and the gym before meeting up with Jodie and they spent the night at our house - which was very unusual as Jodie didn’t normally stop on a work night. They went to bed after watching TV.  more

Ben Daniels
Ben was passionate about sport. Cricket, football and tennis were his mainstays, playing for Old Elthamians CC, Ravens Wood School,  Ex Blues FC, and Bromley Tennis Club. He also had a wonderful  love of music and played the guitar.

Most recently he had embarked on the pathway to be a sports coach, becoming a Young Leader in Cricket with plans to do his Level 1 coaching qualification. Ben represented Old Elthamians CC in every age group and every senior team bar the 1^st XI. 
  

For his school Ben helped his cricket team win the U14 Schools Kent Cup for the first time ever. He was immensely proud of being part of this team and what it achieved.  more

Craig Burling
My son Craig was 23 years old when he was taken away from us on the 23rd August 2011. We are left totally heartbroken and to keep asking the question "Why?".

On Monday 22nd August, Craig came home from work at five o'clock as he normally did, but this particular day he was absolutely buzzing. He had just been to the travel agents and booked a holiday with his girlfriend Sarah; he was telling me about where they had booked to go and asked me if I would look on the Internet to check the trains to Manchester Airport. I said I would and he then said, "Well I had better get ready to go to football". He played six-a-side football every Monday - he loved his footie and he had been playing from the age of five. He got his footie kit on and shouted to me "See you later Ma!".  more

Pete Hinchliffe
I would like to tell you about my brother Pete.

Pete was 33 when he died on the 11th of September 2010.  Pete died at the roadside after getting off his bike, presumably as he felt unwell.  A couple of bystanders started CPR and called for an Ambulance.  His good friend Danny, who he was going to meet for a bike ride, rode past and witnessed the scene unfolding.  He phoned my parents and they rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately Pete had died.

Pete died doing what he loved. He had been a semi-professional road cyclist competing locally as well as at a National level and had spent time in Belgium cycling.  more

Tom Wall
On the 31st August 2011 my friend, Tom Wall, collapsed whilst playing football with mates. He suffered from Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and although everything possible was done by those with him and paramedics, he sadly passed away.

The day before he had returned from a camping trip in Cornwall with friends and family and did not waste any time before getting straight back on Xbox.

We had a great time playing on FIFA 11 and Call of Duty Black Ops – two of his favourite games. We spoke over the Xbox about many things ranging from games in progress to his much higher levels than myself in many games - a bit of gloating of course.  more

Josh Fell
On the 9^th June 2011 our beautiful 15 year old son Josh Fell went out to play football with his friends on the local school field.  That was the last time we saw him alive. 

He passed away from SADS on the school field after feeling tired and dizzy after playing football.  He had only been 15 for 5 weeks.

Josh had gone out as normal to play football with his friends on the 9th June. After spending some time on his PS3, he had a phone call asking him to go out to play football.  I remember he came down stairs and asked me for some money to go to the shop; I gave him some money, ruffled his hair and told him to get a haircut as it was getting long.  more

Sarah Booth
In June 2010 my wife Ita and myself celebrated our 25^th Wedding Anniversary with a long weekend in the beautiful City of Rome.  While there we reflected on how sweet our life was and how fortunate we were to have three lovely children in Claire (19), Owen (16) and Sarah (15). However in the weekend following our return from Rome our perfect existence was to be torn apart.

In the early hours of Sunday morning the 20^th of June a Police Sergeant called at our door with the news that our beautiful daughter, Sarah was being rushed by ambulance to the Ulster Hospital.  She uttered the chilling words “your daughter has a very faint pulse but there are no respiratory signs”.  Sarah had gone out that sunny Saturday afternoon to shop with...  more

Steffani Broughton
My name is Ian Broughton and I live in a small town called Beith in Ayrshire. I’m married to Irene, have three children, Siobhan, Scott and Steffani and a granddaughter called Taylor. CRY came into our lives following the death of our 17 year old daughter Steffani.  She died in her sleep on the 2nd September 2007.

It was the saddest, most traumatic day that we could ever imagine. It changed our world forever. How do you ever start to comprehend how a healthy young person who has everything in life to look forward to goes to bed at night and by the morning they are gone?

Steffani was a kind, caring, loving girl who always went out of her way to help others...  more

Lyndon Cook
On October 29^th 2010 our beloved son Lyndon Cook went to bed and didn’t wake up; he was only 29 years old.

He died from a heart attack caused by Coronary Heart Disease that he never knew he had.  He was a healthy young man who ate healthily and rarely drank alcohol.  He was so proud to have lost 2½ stone shortly before his death.

He was a polite, friendly and a well-mannered young man and was loved by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.  He was quiet with people he did not know well, but with his friends and family he was well known for his affectionate laughter and one-liner jokes.  more

Peter Elliott
On May 23rd 2010 we very suddenly lost our cousin Peter Elliott. Peter was a healthy 21 year old, even though he had cerebral palsy. He never let this hold him back or get in his way and it did not contribute to his death.

Peter's life was short but he packed in a lot of what he wanted to do - especially with his love for music, by forever going to concerts and festivals.

None of our family had ever heard of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome prior to Peter's death.  Peter had absolutely no symptoms, the doctors explained it was "like a light going out" - which to the family is the only comfort to his death: that he felt nothing.  more

Ibrahim Bash-Taqi
The sudden death of my amazing 17 year old son Ibrahim Bash-Taqi ('Ditto' to us and 'Cruzer' to his Facebook pals) feels like having a rug on which I was standing firmly, pulled suddenly from under my feet.

The pain is sharp and the thudding does not subside.

I had him when I was only 23 years old - straight out of university and I had never been so sure of any decision in my life. I wanted this child.  more

Connor Huett
This is my brother, Connor. He was born on October 20th, 1992, when I was aged 4 ½. From early on in my brother's life my parents knew that something was wrong. Connor wouldn't give them eye contact and he would hardly ever cry. At first the thought was that he could be deaf, but that was soon ruled out. 

At 5 years old, Connor was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome (a form of autism), which would eventually go on to become full blown autism and severe learning difficulties.  I love my brother, as my parents do, more than is imaginable, but growing up with him could be a complete nightmare at times. Autism is difficult to fully understand and I don't believe anyone can really know what it is unless they've known someone who suffers from it.  more

Harry Edward Redfearn
Tuesday 19^th October 2010 was the happiest day of my life. After five years of trying for a baby and having IVF with ICSI we were blessed with Harry, a bundle of joy weighing in at 6lbs and 6 ounces. From the minute he was born he was making strange grunting noises which, as first time parents, we had no idea what they were – we just thought he was trying to tell us something.  We weren’t wrong. 

Twelve hours later Harry was taken upstairs to the special care baby unit with poor feeding, hypoglycaemia and respiratory distress.  An echo cardiogram was carried out on Harry the next day and we received the devastating news that he had severe obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a condition that is incurable in newborns.  more

Alan Porter
Alan was a lovely person.  He had a happy childhood, always out with his friends having fun - and some mischief - as lads do.  His friend Robert was mad on fishing and Alan soon followed in his footsteps, spending his pocket money on fishing gear.  They had me dropping them off at different ponds and parts of the canal, then picking them up later.

Alan left school and went to college to do a two year Media course and did Saturdays in our family business - which is a Motor Factors.  After one year I think he finally got fed up with having to get up really early to make the long journey to college on two buses.  So, Alan came into the family business in our shop.  His duties were serving customers, stocking up and ordering parts.  He had a memory like computer...  more

Rhian Nadine Fry
The East Sussex & Kent Courier's headlines on 8^th February 2001 read; "Tragic death of Rhian, 17"  The headteacher of TWGGS - Rhian's school - described her in the newspaper as “the loveliest of girls”.  She was our daughter and would have been eighteen on 19^th February – just ten days later – and celebrating a joint party with her friend, Emily.

Rhian collapsed suddenly after an English lesson in front of pupils and teachers. Attempts by staff to resuscitate her failed and she was taken to the Kent & Sussex hospital in cardiac arrest where paramedics continued CPR.  She died whilst my husband and I were driving back from Eastbourne to meet her and her brother from the bus stop to take them home. The pathology report states the reason being cardiac arrhythmia.  more

Marc Howe
My name is Liz Hodgson and I live in Oxfordshire. My son, Marc Howe, died suddenly on the 19th June 2010, age 21. This is my story. I have read the other published stories and it has helped me to deal with, and come to terms with, the fact that sudden death happens without warning.

Our son Marc was diagnosed with Ebstein's Anomaly and an enlarged aorta at the age of 2, when our GP noticed an unusual heart beat. He was put on medication and monitored twice a year until he was 16 and then once a year as he had no changes or symptoms.  Because he was a large child and grew to be a 6'5" adult - and had an enlarged aorta - he was also monitored in case he had Marfans Syndrome, though he had no other classic symptoms.  more

Deborah Louise Rendle
My daughter Deborah Louise (Debbie) was the eldest of the family, our other children Michael and Martin, were both devastated at her death.

To me Debbie was not only a wonderful mother to her three children, she was also my best friend and confidante.  Debbie lived in the same village as me and every day without fail she would call in on her way to the village school, dropping off the youngest (Samuel) who was only 14 months old when she died. 

The morning of Monday 5th February 2007 was no different from any other day...  more

David Keirl
I don’t really know where to start as words don’t really do justice to fully describe David to you. David was my brother-in-law - Marc, my husband, was the eldest.

We lost David on 26^th September 2008 to SADS and it was the day our lives changed forever. David had been to work on a normal late shift at Bishop Auckland hospital and had come in, had a shower and just said he was feeling a bit funny.  He then just collapsed and we lost David that night despite the  emergency services doing all they could to revive him.

Shock is an understatement really as we all tried to come to terms with what had happened.  There were no signs at all - David was a fit, healthy young man...  more

Dave Williams
My name is Joe Kettle and I would like to share my story with you.
 

On the evening of 13th December 2005, my best friend Dave Williams aged 16 returned home from a kick boxing session. He told his mother that he had overdone it and his heart rate was just taking a while to get back to normal. Little did anyone know that it would be the last time anyone saw him alive.

Dave was a cheerful and giving person who always did his best to put other people’s happiness before himself; he always stuck up for what he believed in. He was a caring man who didn’t like to show emotion as he thought this would make other people upset.  more

Sarah Didinal
My close friend, Sarah Didinal, died suddenly in her sleep on June 2nd 2009. She was a fit and healthy 37-year-old who lived life to the full. She left her partner Andy and their three small sons.

Sarah and I met in Bondi Beach, Australia, in August 1997, when we were both backpacking around the world. I remember almost the exact date as it was just before Princess Diana was killed in the Paris car crash. The tragedy seemed to unite all the Brits abroad there at the time.

But it wasn’t just that ‘Brit bonding’ which helped start our friendship. We, like a lot of other backpackers at the hostel that night had had a few ‘Stanleys’ – the name of a cheap wine popular among penny-pinching travellers – and got talking about our lives back home.  more

It seems as though Hannah has fought against the odds all of her life. When she was born - a mere scrap at little over 4lbs - she was all legs and feet (in fact when her uncle Clive first saw her at the hospital he called her ‘Skippy’).

Looking back she was like a leggy foal who turned into a beautiful thoroughbred. An apt description of her considering her lifelong passion for horses.  more

Adam Donnelly
Our 17 year old son Adam died suddenly on 30^th July 2004.  That is the day my life changed forever.
 

We were on holiday in Cyprus with a group of friends – the day had started normally with breakfast and then down to the pool where we sat chatting for a while.  My husband Jed, daughter Sian and I decided we wanted to go snorkelling in a lovely bay about 10 minutes walk away but Adam decided he would prefer to stay behind.  Just before we’d left, I and another friend had been discussing teenage boys and how they can be with their mums – I said that Adam was always up for a kiss and hug – I’d given him a big kiss on the cheek and said “I love you” – he replied with his usual embarrassed “get off me!” but was smiling all the same!  That was the last thing I said to him.  more

Kerry-Anne was the girl of my dreams.  I had many a time sat back and thought to myself just how perfect life had turned out and how lucky I had been to have found Kerry-Anne - she was the complete package and ticked all the boxes.  She was beautiful, affectionate, caring, thoughtful, exuberant, and had a fantastic dry humour and wit about her – though first and foremost she reciprocated my love. 

Kerry-Anne was an extremely happy person and had a special radiance about her which touched all who were fortunate enough to have met her.  We first met 10 years ago through numerous summer days out we had spent at country shows with mutual friends.  more

Tom Morgan
Tom was 30 when he passed away on 15th June 2009.

My phone was ringing at 5.30am that morning. Panic set in, it had to be bad news. It was my Dad telling me that my brother had passed away. Disbelief set in. He was 30. He had gone to bed on the Sunday night and didn't have any complaints of feeling unwell, but when my stepdad was trying to wake him up he was just laying on his bed, fully clothed (as he quite often would) shoes on also. He had just laid on the bed.

The phone call was the worst thing. I live 300 miles away so I felt useless. That day passed in a blur. I went to the family the next morning.  more

James Byers
My name is Teresa Byers, I am the mother of four boys, with a broken heart. On 9th February 2000 our world came tumbling down.  Our 3rd son James, who was being treated for Wolf Parkinson White, dropped dead in school at the age of 7.  The teachers worked non-stop to revive him until the medics came and they took over working on him to bring him back.

The sad thing is he did not want to come back, his heart stopped suddenly as if someone switched off a light and they never got any rhythm from shocking him or resuscitation.  He was taken to casualty and they continued working on him throughout the journey and in hospital. I was at work when I got the message he had taken ill, but mum's seem to know - well I did.  He wasn't sick, he was gone, I could feel it through my whole body.  more

Nicholas Thomas
I was in a deep sleep and somewhere in my dream I could hear a phone ringing. It took a while for me to comprehend it was the bedside phone.  The clock on the bed side table said 2:00am. As soon as I picked up the phone I heard my brother’s trembling voice saying “He has gone”. 

It has always worried me that I never asked him who he was talking about and how I instantly knew who he was referring to. He was unable to give any details.

Our son Nicholas died suddenly at the wheel of his car while waiting for the traffic lights to change on the 13th January 2005 at 10:00pm.  Nicholas was 25 and the eldest of our two children. His sister Natasha was 9 years younger.  more

Kyle Thompson
My darling grandson, Kyle, died suddenly and unexpectedly on the 15th April 2008 just four days before his 14th birthday on the 19th April 2008.  Kyle collapsed while playing out in a children’s park just in front of his mother’s home (on a very steep hill near Sowerby Bridge, Halifax). 

Kyle’s mother, my only child Sarah, and Kyle, my only grandchild, had just been living back together for one year.   Due to unforeseen circumstances Kyle had been living with my partner Julian and I from being 6 years old up until the age of 12 when he returned to live with his mother.

My daughter and her partner rang us on Tuesday 15th April to say they were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and that Kyle had collapsed earlier in the park.  more

Sarah Anne Bennett
Our beautiful, vivacious daughter Sarah, whom we cherished and adored, was born on 10^th October 1987.  She was born breach and four weeks early when my waters broke. We took her home a week later and that night had the worst storms in years. 

Sarah celebrated her 22^nd birthday in October. She was a legal secretary and had just started a new job in London after being out of work for a year.

Sarah was a very happy child, always laughing and smiling and we called her “Angel”. She loved primary school where she excelled and was a very popular girl with the other children and teachers.  more

Paul Roy
My name is Sammie and we've recently lost our brother, Paul. Paul tragically died on Wednesday 7th October 2009 at the age of 26 years old.

It was a terrible loss for our family and friends.  He was a well loved lad with a great future ahead of him. 

After reading many entries on your site, we too are going through the same process of bereavement.  However, although many feelings are similar, there are many which simply cannot be compared...  more

James Johnsen
We had no idea that James would leave us at such an early age. He had gone out Christmas shopping to Newcastle with his brother Leon and planned to meet up with friends in a bar later in the afternoon. 

When James arrived he ordered a drink but told his brother he was feeling dizzy and began to make his way outside.  Leon followed him to ask if he was alright and in that brief moment James collapsed in his arms showing signs of a heart attack.

Paramedics arrived within a few short minutes but it was too late and James was announced dead on arrival at the hospital.  more

Matthew Bailey
It was a Monday towards the end of September 2004, our W.I. evening.  We had a speaker coming who used to live locally, but who had moved to Edinburgh and was coming all the way down to be with us.  Consequently, we were making it a “special evening”, and I was busy preparing my share of the food.  The telephone rang. “May I borrow your car, please?”

“Well, yes, Paul, if your need is greater than mine.”

It transpired that Paul, my son-in-law and a farmer, had taken a call on his mobile from Woodruffe School, to say that Matthew, his eldest son, had had an accident and had been airlifted to the Devon and Exeter General Hospital.  more

Martyn Luckett
Our youngest son Martyn went to live with his sister in Swindon, whilst we lived in North Devon. He was 19 years old and one of three children - Nick was the eldest, Charlotte the middle (and only daughter) and Martyn. 

The elder two knew exactly what they wanted to do, though Martyn did not know and was different - but he was still my baby!

Martyn had been living with Charlotte for four months.  They got along very well but he decided that he missed his friends back home and wanted to move back.  He had returned from a week's holiday to Swindon, and on the Saturday he and Charlotte did a Fun Run for the neighbours' children's school.  more

Ricky Stevens & Jason Small
It was the help of CRY during the first two years of the millennium that our family first learned of SADS and the worldwide scale of families suffering the same kind of loss as ourselves. It is truly tremendous. CRY gave us the answers, information and support that we craved. Just like so many others, we lost two fit and healthy young men suddenly and with no explanation for their deaths.

Firstly, my nephew Ricky Stevens who was 15, just one month short of his 16^th birthday, collapsed and died in his bedroom on April 15^th 2000. It was the Easter Break, and he was looking forward to a camping trip with friends.  more

Peter Dean Button
Until the 26^th July 2007 as a family we had a lovely life. On the 27^th July 2007 it came to an end. Our lovely, fit and healthy son died. It would have been about 5.30am in bed with our daughter-in-law at his side. Peter Jnr was 37.

The destruction and devastation this caused I often wonder how we are still standing. Our daughter-in-law Helen, our daughter Susie, my husband Peter Snr and myself all just wanted to go with Peter Jnr.

Our daughter stopped eating, as her brother could no longer eat, our daughter-in-law just ate edges of toast, all of us lost so much weight.  more

David Paul Staff
5^th December 1977, David Paul Staff entered this world and made our lives truly happy and at that time the happiest day of our lives. As years passed, everyone who came into contact with him grew to like him, he hadn’t a malicious, vindictive bone in his body.  He was a really lovely person to be with who everyone took to.  He traversed all age groups and as he grew older he developed a sense of humour and what a sense of humour, weird but wonderful, witty and funny.

In August 1994, David went on a school trip which visited Italy, Tunisia, Egypt and lastly Israel. They visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem where pilgrims from all around the world put notes, prayers and so on into the cracks of the wall - an ancient tradition that has spanned centuries.  more

Matthew 'Love' Bradley
How do I begin? How can any mother start to recount the most awful day of her life?  It has taken me nearly three years to begin to come to terms with our sad loss. 

It began on March 27^th 2007, which just happened to be my birthday.  The day began with usual birthday wishes and cards, etc - but the everyday chores take over and I had to drive Matt into college.  He was studying 3D graphic design at our local college, I won’t pretend he was a perfect student - there were days when he didn’t want to go - but we have all been there with work. So in general he would frame himself and get back on task.

This particular morning, he woke and complained of having a headache, but not wanting to be too soft on him, I told him to take two Paracetemol and go to college.  more

Wednesday 22^nd October 2008

7.40am – My youngest son Ollie shouts “right, I’m off now”.  I am in my bedroom wrapped in a towel, I do not go into the hall to see him, but I shout back “have a happy day” and he leaves for his third day’s teaching practice at a local primary school. 

5.10pm – I am walking along a footpath on my way to an exercise class following my day at work.   I am feeling unusually upbeat. Ollie has been home from Plymouth University since Sunday evening to do his teaching practice, staff problems at work have been resolved and my husband Kevin and I are off on holiday next week.  All is right with the world……………

7.05pm – I am still in my gym clothes chopping vegetables for dinner.  more

Luke Meekings
It was eighteen months on Christmas Eve 2009 since my son Luke died and I’m still struggling to find words adequate to describe both Luke and the impact of his death.

On June 24^th 2008 I’d gone straight from work to Luke’s house; he had only just moved in and the house really wasn’t liveable-in and he was literally camping in a bedroom. My job for the evening was to put kitchen units together prior to the cooker being fitted – he could then at least stop surviving on takeaways!

Early evening Luke arrived home from work and as he pulled up in front of the house the tyre on his car blew. My husband and Luke tried unsuccessfully to change the tyre but quickly gave up. Luke was fretting about everything he still had to do including picking up his girlfriend from work and going to the gym as well as eating and working on his house.  more

Ryan Harrison

My beautiful son Ryan was 18 years of age when he decided to go travelling to Canada.

Me and my husband and his sister did not want him to go as he had recently packed up working for my husband as an apprentice alarm engineer. 

But Ryan just wanted to live his dream, which was travelling and having the time of his life.  I will never forget the last phone call we had from him when he said to me “mum, I’m living my dream and having a great time”. 

He left England on the 13^th October 2009. The first week away he had managed to fit so much in and probably did more than what my husband and me had done in a lifetime.  more

Thomas Shackleton
Thomas Shackleton died on the 19th May 2004, aged 21.

Thomas was a great musician who played the guitar and could make a tune on any instrument. This was one of his songs that we played at his funeral - and on his gravestone we have a guitar engraved into the marble with the words “Sail my ship home”.

Thomas was the singer in a band called the "Slow Emotion” but this was a song he wrote and performed by himself. We are so very fortunate to have Thomas’ music and to hear his voice seems to bring him to life.  more

Andrew Mark Croxson
Andrew Mark was my first born, a perfect baby in every way. He grew up into a fine young man, a great son, and a wonderful brother to Stephen and Timothy. He loved and enjoyed life to the fullest.

Andrew grew fast and was tall for his age. He experienced a couple of fainting attacks as a teenager. Doctors did not seem to be worried and said this was part of growing up.  He had experienced an unexplained faint only the week before he died and had attended the hospital.

After finishing school Andrew travelled the world for a year, visiting many countries and staying with friends and church leaders. New Zealand was his favourite place, and he spent many months there.  more

Neil 'Kymatik' Schuyleman
What can possibly prepare you for the total shock of being told – however gently – that your beloved only son had suddenly and unexpectedly ‘passed away’. What!  How?  When?

The thought rushed through my head ‘Can I get there to see him before it is too late!’. Then the dawning impact that the strong, happy, vibrant grown up son I had happily talked to on the phone two days before – was dead! No chance for any of us to hold him, say goodbye and tell him how much we loved him. How could that possibly be?  Whilst I now know how many countless other families face this shocking truth – it cannot begin to comfort you from the initial, unbelievable news that a child of yours – the person you nurtured, encouraged and loved – has gone before you.  more

James Ross Markham
James seemed to be a fit and health young man. He lived at home, was a music student, and was twenty one years of age when in November 2001 he suddenly dropped dead outside the house. What made his death so baffling was that earlier that year on a family holiday to the Lake District he had seemed so well.  One morning he had cycled around Grizdale Woods on a mountain bike, and in the same afternoon rowed the length of Grasmere Lake.

On the day of his death things had started normally.  He had been to college, had dinner, and in the evening was at home working on his computer.  He had a car that was due to be serviced, and the garage we used was about 400 yards from the house.  He had arranged to drop the car off that evening, and post the keys through the letterbox. He set off at about 11 pm, and shouted out that he would be back in about 15 minutes.  more

Olivia Raby
Thursday 22nd May 2008 is a day I will never forget as that is the day our precious daughter Olivia Elaine Raby was taken away from us. She was playing rounders whilst at school, aged 14. Olivia was our only child, who was a fit and healthy young girl and was turning into a beautiful lady before our eyes.  She loved participating in sport - she was the captain of her primary school netball team and had represented Salford in the youth games playing hockey.  We were really proud to call her our daughter.

It started as just another normal day, although thinking about it maybe it wasn’t. I normally shouted Olivia to get up for school but this day I thankfully went up to her bedroom to wake her up, and as she left for school she shouted upstairs that she loved me and she’d see me later………if only.  more

Adam Payne
If you are reading this story of our experiences, following the death of our son, then you will fall into one of 3 categories. The first and most important group are those directly affected by such events. The fact that you are reading this if you have recently lost someone is a positive sign as you have begun the process of looking for an answer to this terrible loss.

The second group will be those in the medical profession in whatever capacity that may be. The majority of you may never have come across such a condition as this, so please read on.
 
The third group is everybody else from whatever walk of life you come from. Even if you have wandered onto this site in error, then please stay and read the rest of this...  more

Marcella Doherty
Marcella Doherty was only 24 years old when she died of Arrhythmogenic  Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy or ARVC.  Despite her untimely death being as a result of this undiagnosed killer, Marcella had symptoms in the week prior to her death.  Sadly, diagnosis proved inadequate and Marcella was unable to convince the medical establishment about the seriousness of her illness in that difficult final week of her short life.  This is her story.

Marcella was born in May 1981, the youngest daughter of Peter and Brigid Doherty of Bellaghy, County Derry, Northern Ireland.  A loving and infectious child, she brought great joy to not only her close family, but to her large family circle - all could call her a real friend.  more

Joe Pearce Willis
Presented here is an edited version of a chapter I wrote for a book a couple of years ago and remembers Joe Pearce Willis, our son.

Edited extract from Fred Pearce’s book "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" (Eden Project Books, 2008).

Our household survived without a mobile phone for a long time.  Even as a journalist, I have resisted.  The first arrived when our son Joe bought a bog-standard Nokia in 2003.  Always on the look-out for a bargain, he paid £10 at Carphone Warehouse in Clapham Junction.  It did the job. Or it did until – and there is no sensible way of writing this without sharing the family tragedy with you – until his death in 2005.  more

Nicky Musgrave
Our daughter, Nicky, died a month before her 19^th birthday in February 2006. She died suddenly and unexpectedly whilst watching an episode of “Friends” with one of her housemates in the house that she shared with four students.  Despite the best efforts of everybody - the housemates, paramedics and doctor - Nicky was pronounced dead shortly after I arrived at the house to be with her. 

The cause of death was dilated cardiomyopathy.  She was asymptomatic and when my husband and I saw her earlier on the day she died, she was full of zest for life, talking non-stop about her job, friends, university and plans for the following academic year after she finished her Art Foundation course.  more

Lisa Shepherd
My name is Michael Shepherd and I’m 53 years old.  I live with my wife Janice, 51, and son Liam, 23, in Bolsover - a small town 6 miles from Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

All was well in our lives until the horror, which came on Friday 19^th May 2006.

Our daughter Lisa, 23, a staff nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital was due to take Liam to work as she was off work on holiday.  She was planning an early morning shopping trip to nearby Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield with her friend and fellow nurse Tanya, and as she was up early she told her mum to have a lie in and she would take Liam to work.  more

Luke Francis
There is song affectionately known as ‘The Sunscreen Song’.  A couple of lines from the song are:  "Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday."

Well I was blindsided at 3.30am on a Sunday morning.

I was in a deep sleep and somewhere in the distance I could hear a phone ringing….. it took me several seconds to comprehend it was the house phone.  more

Jamie Gentleman

Where do I start! My heart hurts, my pulse is still as I start to share my tragic loss.

Jamie ‘G’ - our shining Star - went to heaven on Friday 15th March 2009, five days before his 14th Birthday.

A sportsman in every sense - football, darts, golf, fishing - most sports he shone at and loved taking part. I can't begin to understand this and each day rolls into another.

We live for the happy 14 years we had and are grateful for every minute.  more

Guy Evans

Guy Evans, died aged 17 of a suspected heart arrhythmia while riding his motorbike. How does anyone begin to describe the pain at losing a precious child suddenly and without any warning?

The evening of August 14^th last year (2008) was the last time we saw our beloved 17-year-old twin son, Guy, alive.

At around 7pm he came into the house to pick up some things for a sleepover, gave me (his mum) a hug, said a cheery “see you Dad” to his father who was in the sitting room watching TV, yelled goodbye to his brother upstairs - and was gone from our lives forever.  more

Matthew Steven Wallbank

On the 24^th May 2008 our precious, kind, loving, gentle son Matthew died suddenly in his sleep, he was 29 years old.  Matthew had travelled down to London with his life long friend Eddie to attend the wedding of his friend Jon to Pam.  Matthew had met Jon when they were both students at Northampton University and they had been good friends ever since.

We last saw Matthew on the 21^st May when he had come to watch the football (Chelsea v Man United) with his Dad and Granddad.  I remember his Dad asking him if he was coming for his tea on Friday but he had said (in his own words) “I can’t Dad, I am travelling down to London for the cockney wedding”.  more

Robert O'Kane

A year has gone by since our son Robert passed away, a long heartbreaking emotional year for myself, my husband and our two remaining sons.

Robert was our middle son, he had a sunny disposition was always full of laughter -  fun-loving and friendly to everyone he met. Robert loved music, it makes me smile when i think of  him singing at the top of his voice driving us all to distraction.

He had the knack of making people feel special and if someone was down or sad Robert would be the first to make a fuss of them.  more

Kieran Formby
It’s now 8 months since, on the eventful evening of 13^th September 2008, we learnt our dearly beloved son Kieran had died and left us.

I am sure that we do not have to tell you how we feel, only that he along with his surviving sister Sinead, they were our very reason and purpose for living and were driving forces in our lives.

In writing this and recalling our circumstances regarding Kieran, we as parents - despite our agony and despair at losing Kieran - must not forget that he was 50% of our lives and that Sinead his sister is alive and with us and is going through her own agonies, concerns and struggles every day and continues to need our love and support.  more

Kira Louise Lloyd
Our daughter, Kira Louise Lloyd, was born on the 12th June 1997 but sadly and tragically Kira became an angel too soon on the 22nd June 2008 - just ten days after her 11th birthday.

Kira was our only child.  She was a beautiful, funny, energetic, happy, caring and loving little girl who lived each day to the full and never wanted a day to end.

Kira started and ended each day with a smile, song and dance.  Kira had a smile that will never be forgotten, which is much like Kira's character in life - once seen, never forgotten.

Kira enjoyed most things in life and she had many hobbies and interests.  more

Neil Desai
My son Neil Desai died suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep on the 5th September 2008, his 22nd birthday, whilst on holiday with his girlfriend in Spain. His death caused immense shock and sadness for our family and his friends. Neil died of an unidentified cardiac condition, which was eventually classified as Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (“SADS”).

Neil was an incredibly talented individual.  He was a world ranked squash player; an outstanding cricketer who had appeared in the Wisden Almanac as one of the top schools' all-rounders in the UK representing Tiffin School; a first class student of Law at Nottingham University and had gained work experience at a number of ’Magic Circle' law firms in the city including Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Slaughter & May and Allen & Overy.  He won the Sports Personality of the Year award at the University of Nottingham in 2008.  more

Kasia Ber
It is now three years since we lost our precious baby at 17 years old from Long QT Syndrome. She was beautiful, funny and talented, kind and thoughtful and had everything to give in life with so much to look forward to and she was so cruelly and needlessly robbed of the life she truly deserved.

She was such a hard worker and the life and soul of whatever she did and took part in everything.  Our Kasia had so much confidence and was forever doing something - she could not walk in the house she had to skip and dance.

She also had a beautiful voice and would always be singing. I miss all the funny dances she would do for me and lending each other earrings; our girlie chats and argues - but we won't have all that back.  more

Daniel James Lowes

It really is difficult to know where to begin as it’s just not possible to prepare yourself and your family for such heartbreaking circumstances.  Our beautiful daughter Chloe Lauren Leach collapsed and died whilst out with friends in a local nightclub on the 30^th September 2008, aged 21 years.  This day has changed our lives forever. 

Chloe was in her 3^rd Year of her Social Work Degree and was predicted a “First Class Honours Degree”.  It all seems so much hard work for nothing. 

Chloe had blossomed into a lovely, caring, fun-loving and confident young woman.  It’s hard to believe that she was so shy as a young child.  more

Liam Ross

His favourite team was Everton FC, for whom he was once a mascot.  more

Richard 'Rich' Tomkins

Rich’, or Boy as he was affectionately known - the best son you could ever wish for was cruelly taken from us, on the 24^th July 2008, age 23. We lost Rich from undiagnosed Infective Endocarditis which is the one infection that for 18 years of Rich’s life I had always been acutely aware of - as without prompt diagnosis it would take his life.

Rich’ was diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis at the age of 5 and I was told that Rich’ must always look after his teeth and be careful when he cut himself because of the risk of Endocarditis. He had the most fantastic teeth ever – with not one filling in his mouth and at age 23......  more

When the phone rang, Beverley answered it and I immediately saw the colour drain from her face, she stared at me with her eyes welling up with tears, and unable to speak she handed me the phone. In the brief few seconds before taking the phone from her I racked my brains for something to prepare me for the bad news obviously coming, but no way in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined how bad it was really going to be!  more

Louisa Halls

My beautiful little sister Louisa Halls died suddenly on Sunday 8th June 2008 aged just 21.

Words cannot begin to describe the pain we are all feeling following the tragic and sudden death of a vivacious and loving young Mum who was taken so unexpectedly whilst peacefully sleeping.

Lou was due to be bridesmaid within weeks of her death, and her 22nd birthday was just under three weeks away, it's so cruel.

How can a fit and healthy young woman die so suddenly? She had so much to live for.  Christmas is going to be so very painful this year, and every year.  more

Ashleigh Hughes

Later on Ashleigh didn't seem to be getting better and was detraining.  more

Claire Dee Shapland

From the day Claire was born there was no mistaking she was a little girl, her sparkling blue eyes and smile would bring warmth to everyone who met her, feminine to the ends of her eye lashes. As Claire grew up in to a young lady her personality was one of embracing the love of her family, considering others and enjoying life.

In February 2005, Claire and I went to see the film 'Ray Charles' as I have always enjoyed his music.  more

Faye Linton

Faye was only 25 years of age when she so suddenly died.

Stephen Westley

Mathew Blease

Mathew had complained of a sore throat on the Monday but still went to school.  On the Wednesday afternoon he told me he did not feel well and was going to lie down.  more

Leanne had been a bit off colour the weekend before and we thought she had flu.  However, she didn't want to come home.  more

Tim’s sudden death occurred on Saturday 17^th May 2008.  He left home with Natalie at 9.45am to play in an end of season 6-a-side match and barbeque.  more

I went straight into the kitchen and started to cook dinner. Jamahl was still lying on the settee and I interrupted him and sent him to the local shop to buy some cat food and a newspaper.  more

Michelle McFeely

My girlfriend, Michelle McFeely of Coleraine, died on 25th January 2008 aged 30.

A week before she died she suffered from a nasty bout of flu but thought it was going away so returned to work.  more

Kevin Smart

He had worked from home that day - he normally worked in London but there were train driver strikes which had caused him a good few hours of delays on the previous working days.  My mum went round to clean for him at about 10ish and had a brief chat with him about some sad news from his office where one of his colleagues had died the previous Saturday whilst away on holiday - caused by treatment from a throat infection!!  When my mum left, all seemed OK and Kevin was his normal chatty but busy self and didn’t complain of feeling unwell.  more

Chris Doyle

We were all shocked and had no warning at all of this, and to lose a 16 year old son was devastating to us all.  more

Amy Russell

Kevin Eaton

Regardless of my efforts, and those of my next door neighbour (thanks Mark), we, then paramedics were unable to bring him back and he was pronounced dead on arrival at our local hospital.  more

My daughter Lisa found him in the morning curled up as if asleep.  She initially thought he was messing around (something that he would have probably done) but when he did not wake, she phoned 999 and performed resuscitation with the support of the operator, but it was too late. more

Sharron Jones

Hannah Turberville

We were skiing with Lucy, Hannah’s non-identical twin sister, and Oliver, her 8 year old brother. We had a fantastic week skiing as a family of 5 and one which we will never forget. We were self-catering and had gone out for dinner on the Friday evening and had a lovely meal. Hannah had eaten pizza and then ice cream one of her favourite meals. We had talked about the holiday - the best bits and the not so good bits.  more

Gareth was very fit and healthy. He had played football for years and had returned from his first skiing trip just two weeks before he died. He was such a kind, gentle young man and loved spending time with his friends and family. He loved films and computer games and playing his bass guitar.  more

I was wholly ignorant of the tragedy that was about to envelop my family before the day was through. My second son Luke slumbered on as I left for work as a District nurse in Ramsey, Isle of Man. Luke opened his presents in his room, and then spent the afternoon walking with his grandfather and the dogs.  more

Mark Phelps

Mark was 25 when he died on the 18th November 2002. At the time I (his brother Matthew) was working away and received a call from my mother just after 6.30 to say he had died. For me it was the most surreal phone call I have ever received and I hurriedly got to Euston station London to get home to Birmingham as quickly as I could.

The previous night Mark, I and the rest of the family had been at a memorial service for our Grandmother who had died a year previous and Mark was the picture of health. He played football twice a week and was generally a lot fitter and healthier than his older brother who smoked, and drank more than he did.  more

Max French

Maxwell George French died at 21.18 on 25^th June 2007.  He was 24.  It had just been a normal Monday evening.  My tea was ready on the table when I got back from work and we sat down to discuss our days.  Max then got into his sports kit ready to play football with some friends he organised French conversation evenings with.  Not being the sportiest person, he was full of trepidation, but after some reassurance he left excited about the match.

An hour later I received a phone call.  Max’s friend told me he’d suffered a cardiac arrest and that I had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  I jumped on a bus and once there, sprinted into the hospital.  I was led into a small room and given the news.  Max had been jogging along joking about his lack of fitness when suddenly he collapsed.  Despite the efforts of friends to resuscitate him, there was nothing anybody could do.  I had no idea how to act or feel.  more

Thursday 19^th April 2007 will be a day that we as a family will remember forever. April  19^th  every year is special anyway as it is my wife’s birthday. Our daughter Sarah (age 20), who worked in a care home, was on late shift that day and as a result we had celebrated my wife’s birthday the evening before with a family favourite meal of fish and chips.

That day (the 18^th) Sarah had been to the zoo with some of the residents of the care home, and was full of stories about how much both she and the residents had enjoyed the day, and showed us lots of photographs she had taken of them all. My wife and I, Sarah and her elder brother Will (age 22), all round the table laughing and joking and talking about how everyone was getting on, just normal family stuff.  more

Simon Jon Cullum

Marcus Armstrong

Marcus was 28 years old when he died.  Two days previously he was at home when he felt ill. He was short of breath, sweating and had chest pains - the symptoms were identical to when he was rushed to hospital a few years earlier.  Back then it was diagnosed as a panic attack after lots of  tests and 4 hours in the hospital. 

Marcus told his partner Lucy he would be fine as he didn’t want to go back into hospital again.  The next day he felt better and went to work as a Taxi driver in Harwich but his mum was insistent he went to the doctors for a check up. 

He reluctantly went, they did an ECG test, blood pressure and other checks, and was assured everything was fine. The next day he collapsed and died.  more

Christopher Dixon

Christopher was 19 years old, my stepson and Karen's only child. He had just found his first love and had everything to live for.

On Friday 8th June 2007 he was having a kick-about in Kings Park, Swanage with a couple of mates. He stopped, looked over to Aimee his girlfriend, smiled and waved, and as they turned away he collapsed with cardiac arrest, falling onto his back. Unfortunately as he did so, he vomited and inhaled the vomit.

His friends called for an ambulance and commenced CPR. Being rural Dorset, it took 10 - 20 minutes for a paramedic to arrive and he, seeing how severe the situation was, called for a helicopter to get Chris to hospital.  more

Chris Gorman

My husband died on the 28 June 2007. He was a healthy, fit 29 year old man.  He had been training all year for the London to Brighton bike ride.  He had been cycling 30 miles every weekend and there had never been a problem.

He left my house on the Saturday night before the bike ride, to stay with a friend who lived in London (1 mile away from the start line).  He ate his dinner and had a fairly early night, he got up in the morning, had his breakfast and left around 5.30am.  He rode the 1 mile to the start line. The next think I knew was when the police knocked on my door at around 7am and asked to come in. I asked if I needed to sit down and was told "yes".  more

Matthew Kamis

My son, aged 26 years, died on 15^th January 2006, (born on November 22^nd 1980), of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, which we had never heard of before we lost Matthew.  Matthew was our youngest child.  He had never been ill, and had shown no signs of feeling unwell.

On the morning of January 15^th, around lunchtime, Matthew had just woken up, as he worked six days a week and on a Sunday he had a lie in bed.  I, his mum, was just coming out of the bathroom, which is opposite to Matthew’s room.  He asked me if I would make him a bacon sandwich.  more

Neville McIntosh

Neville - or Nev as most of us knew him - was born on 11th March 1970. He was known to be always on the go - always smiling, cracking jokes and would always help people out.  He became the very, very proud father of his 3 beautiful children, Alex(17), Olivia(13) and Claudia(6).

I (Kirsty) met Nev in February 2005. We fell in love instantly and became inseparable. We were soulmates. I finally knew what love was and it was well worth the wait! Nev proposed to me 6 months after we met. He even drove down to South Wales to ask my dad for my hand in marriage. We were hoping to get married towards the end of this year.

Nev had worked for over 10 years at Pilkington Glass as an overhead crane driver. In February 2006 he took a very intense course to become a qualified tower crane driver!  more

Leon Ashley Manners

Let me take you back to the day in question, July 17^th 1999. A bright, warm, sunny day. My son Leon was excited as it was his final day at nursery school. He was due to start the ‘BIG’ school in September.

When we arrived at the school, Leon had to try on his new school uniform. I can picture him standing tall and proud. He looked so grown up in his little grey trousers, white shirt and blue jumper. I said, “Look at you my baby, all grown up!”  He looked at me all coy with a big gorgeous grin.

After school, Leon’s friend came to play in the back garden.  more

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.  more

Graeme Blenkinsop

Daniel Vavasour

On October 6th 2005 I got a phone call from my dad. His tone was serious and I immediately knew something was wrong. He spoke to my mum first, who answered the phone.

Her face had an expression of utter shock. She silently passed me the phone and I nervously listened as my dad told me that my 15 year old cousin had died.

I felt numb and my face drained of colour. When I finished the phone call, the news wouldn’t sink in. Dan and I were born five months apart and he’d lived in the same street as me for almost ten years.   more

Ryan is our only child.  We love him dearly.  He was our life.  Happy-go-lucky, everyone’s friend.  As one friend said at his funeral ‘gave everything, asked for nothing’.  That really summed him up. 

Ryan and Nicola (Ryan’s fiancée) had a little boy, Harley, 2 ½ years ago.  We were over the moon.  Our life was complete.  What joy – we would see them two or three times in the week and every Sunday for lunch.  Every holiday was spent with us in our house in Spain. 

We had all been to Spain in June for a family holiday, but in August Ryan wanted to go and visit his friend in Thailand.  more

Jimmy & Chrissy

Our family had a very strong history of seizures.  It began with Mom and myself and I passed it on to my children.  We had been labelled with epilepsy and with medicine we lived a fairly normal life.

Chrissy began having seizures at seven years of age and Jimmy began at eleven or twelve.  Jimmy was 22, married with a baby when I received a phone call on April 15, 2000, that would forever change our lives.  more

Nathan Butler

Where do we start?  There’s so much to tell - as his teacher’s used to say!

Nathan was born on 1st April 1989 and even as a young baby he managed to attract a lot of attention - a charm which became more evident as he grew up into a young man.  He was always full of life and as a young boy he wanted to be involved in everything that was going on and his main aim was to entertain.

His favourite characters were Fireman Sam and Superman and we have vivid memories of him in his own “home made” Superman costume consisting of red pants over blue joggers, a blue sweatshirt with a cardboard coloured ‘S’ stuck on the front and a tea towel for a cape!  more

Anthony McCarroll

Anthony was born on the 16^th of August 1986, and died on the 20^th of September 2006.

As a boy, Anthony was always smiling and was very quiet. He did well at school, never got into any trouble, got on with his work and always did his homework on time. At home you very rarely saw Anthony because he was always in his bedroom either doing his homework or playing on his Playstation.

This was the case until he left school. His dad got him an Engineering apprenticeship when he left school, at Elmsteel where he was an Operations Manager. He settled in well at work and soon developed into an asset to the company.  more

Daniel Boughey

My son was so full of life, he loved it so much.  I am not saying he was an angel, as at times he could be a right pain - that's teenagers for a you.  But a mother's love is unconditional, and I loved Daniel so much.  He was my life and I would do anything for him - same as my other children Stuart and Jessica.

As all brothers and sisters, they had their ups and downs.  He always had a smile on his face, and was forever making us laugh.  I miss him so much - we all do.  Sunday 3rd September was a lovely family day, something that we can't always do due to work, etc. and Stu and Daniel wanting to do their own things.  more

Daniel Larkin

Our wonderful son Daniel was tragically taken from us on 6th January 2006.  Daniel was just nineteen years old. 

He was the biggest Liverpool football fan ever - it really was his life.  He was loved by everyone who met him.  Danny was a quiet and sensible young man with an extremely good sense of humour.  We all miss him every hour of every day.  The memories he has left behind have made us all very, very proud. 

Myself, his Dad and younger brother Adam had only left Danny that morning to fly back to Mallorca, as we were living and working there at the time.  more

Lisa Jane Browne

My husband, Terry, and I received a telephone call from our son-in-law on Saturday 10 January 1998 at approximately 8am to say that our daughter, Lisa Jane Browne, a nurse, aged 27 years, was being taken to hospital.  My son-in-law told me that he had received a telephone call from the hospital ward, where Lisa was due to be working the early shift, to ask if Lisa had overslept.  Unable to rouse Lisa, my son-in-law called the paramedics who were unfortunately unable to resuscitate Lisa.  When my husband and I arrived at the hospital we were told that Lisa had died. 

A post mortem two days later revealed no obvious cause of death, and I was informed by the Pathologist that Lisa should still be alive.  more

Laura Hillier

Whenever I think back to Friday 20th June 2003 - which is still most days - I remember the clear blue sky and warm sunshine, and recall thinking "how could such a tragedy strike in a moment on such a lovely summer's day?"

Laura was 21 years and 6 months old.  The detail seems important.  She had just completed her second term of a BA course in Early Childhood Studies at University College Northampton (later to become the University of Northampton).  She loved young children, was a natural with them, and they in turn loved her.  Everybody loved Laura.  She was lively, witty, talkative and energetic, without any streak of malice or unkindness.  more

Charlene Page

Our beautiful daughter Charlene Page was born on the 29th September 1985, and passed away on the 6th July 2005 from SADS.

Charlene had always appeared fit and healthy, and had always kept in good health.  She had no symptoms to alert us that anything was wrong.

She was a very lively kid and made friends easily.  This was due to her friendly nature and her wicked sense of humour.

The 6th of July 2005 started off as another 'typical day'.  more

Greg Highwood-Mack

His name was Greg Highwood-Mack and on the 19^th March – after nine days in intensive care – in the arms of those who loved him and whom he loved most dearly, he slipped away.

The last time we hugged was the morning of the 10^th March. It seemed like any other day…but I suppose that’s what most days feel like. What I wouldn’t give for ordinary. The truth is it was never ordinary with Greg. From the very start he made his mark – arriving 5 weeks early to the surprise of his parents. I suppose it was the trauma of this particular experience that led to Greg’s aversion to arriving early ever again…but he was always worth the wait.

Greg was the boy I was going to marry. He came into my life two years ago…  more

Jonathan Leigh

Jonathan was coming to the end of his first year as a trainee surveyor at the commercial property consultants King Sturge in Leeds, and without doubt had a bright future. He loved the job and the people with whom he worked. He was a talented sportsman but his main love was soccer.

As a schoolboy he was a member of the highly successful Wakefield Schools’ FA under 11 team in 1995/96, and continued to represent the District through to the final under 15 age group in 1999/2000.  He was a member of Rotherham United’s Academy side and was voted player of the season for his College 1^st XI and for the Castleford & District FA side in 2002.  He made his full debut for Pontefract Collieries 1^st XI in the Northern Counties East League in April 2002.  more

Cameron Strathie

Our precious, beautiful son, born 2 August 1999, passed away 7 January 2006 aged 6 years, he was our first child and our pride and joy. Cameron passed suddenly in our living room whilst watching TV with his little sister Leah, aged 2.

He had been suffering from a bad flu but that day and the 2 previous but he seemed to be on the road to recovery, he had no sign of any illness on that day, the worst day of our lives. He just stopped breathing, I heard a loud snoring noise and found him on his side, his Dad had just popped out and returned just as this was happening. He tried his best to resuscitate him but the ambulance took 20 minutes and although the paramedics also tried their best, just after we got to the hospital we were told the most shocking awful news.  more

Stuart Attridge

Stuart was born on Saturday 11th October 1980 at 9.30pm at the old Redhill General Hospital.  He waited until the Dinner Dance was underway and then made his appearance in his usual rush, with our doctor only just catching him as he was born.  Rosemary's first comment was on how small he was - the lightest of all our children at only 6lbs 2oz.  Who would have guessed he would grow to be the tall, strapping young man that he was.  A placid baby who was content to let his big brother amuse and torment him until he was old enough to retaliate! 

Stuart attended a playgroup and then started his school days at the old Reigate Parish Church School.  His all round talent for sport soon started to appear, and can you believe he learnt to play the violin.  more

Joel Davies

Joel died in his sleep between the night of Wednesday June 8th and Thursday 9th June.  We are still awaiting the inquest but as there was no cause of death found we believe he died of Sudden Adult Death.  We, his parents, were on a 10-day, 24 year belated honeymoon in St Lucia at the time of his death.

He was healthy and very happy, especially that day.  He had rushed home from work to make sure someone was in to sign for his Glastonbury ticket.  The ticket arrived at around 5pm. We only know this as he was chatting on msn to friends saying how ecstatic he was to have them in his hand.  His msn named had been changed to `I have my ticket in my hand'.  The msn messaging went on until around 7.45pm. The last message to someone was `I am off for a bit...be back later'.  more

Alaina Taylor

Alaina was born in 1990 and was a lovely healthy baby of 9lb 3oz.  The delivery was fast, with no pain relief - in fact the nurses were stunned as I laughed though most of it.  Fifty minutes later she was here.  From day one she wanted to see and listen - always wanting to know about things.  As she got older she knew facts we did not, and would put us to shame when she knew stuff.

She is the youngest of three.  Kelly is her older sister who will be twenty in March, and Craig, her brother, was eighteen in November.  Me and Carl have been happily married for twenty one years, and we live in a new four bedroom property that we have made our home.  Alaina has her own room and loved to go and use her computer and put on loud music as soon as she came home from school.  We always had our evening meal together as a family, and we would talk for ages, laughing about the day's events or past events. more

Chris Rice

My son Chris died on Monday 26th September 2005 aged 18 years.  He was at Hengistbury Head, where he taught sailing and kayaking.  He also coached swimming for Bournemouth Dolphins.  He loved working with children and was an inspiration to all whose lives he touched.  Chris achieved in 18 years what many would not achieve in 80 years.

Chris was a county level swimmer, and was diagnosed with HCM at 10 years of age.  We were told that there was no cure.  They tried Beta-Blockers for a time, but they made Chris very tired and seemed to give him symptoms.  Chris was monitored six-monthly at Southampton Hospital, until he was 17 years old.  We went every six months, and my lovely placid son would turn into an argumentative monster every time.  He used to say, "Its pointless.  We all say the same thing every time - is it any better?  Any worse?  No, see you in six months."  more

In memory of my fiancée Deb

The 29^th June 2004 is a day that I will never forget!!  The previous day I had left my fiancée to go home to my parents for the night - this was nothing unusual as we were waiting to move into a new home together.  It was about 10pm when I got a text message from Deb saying “I am going to bed now darling, love you, speak to you in the morning”, I replied almost instantly with “Love you too, I am going to bed too, got work early tomorrow”.  We both went to bed happy, expecting to speak to each other in the morning. 

My alarm went off at 5:50am.  I struggled out of bed and the first thing that I did, as every other day when at my parents house, was text Deb.  I wrote the text message, “Morning Darling, how are you today? I really don’t want to get out of bed!!”  I found it unusual that she had not replied within a couple of minutes of me sending this.  more

Stephen Ruggier

My 17-year-old son Stephen Peter Ruggier was a fit, healthy lad who was looking forward to becoming 18 - which was only twenty days away when he died.  He died on 4th October 2004, and was going to celebrate his 18th birthday on the 24th October.

He was always happy and full of life.  He was training to be a mechanic, and had just started his second and final year at college.  He had already achieved his Level 1, which we are all very proud of.

It all started on the Saturday morning when Stephen said he did not feel well.  On the Sunday the doctor came and said that Stephen had tonsilitis, and prescribed him with penicillin.  more

Martyn Luckett

Monday 11 July 2005 was the worst day of my life.  As I stood in the flat I thought this wasn’t happening to me, it must be a dream.  As I waited in the hospital I remember thinking everything will be ok.  Then I watched as the doctor approached me and I knew by the expression on his face that it wasn’t going to be good news.  I felt numb.

All week, silly things have been going through my mind.  I keep thinking what will I say when new people I meet ask me “have you got any brothers or sisters?”  How would I answer them? 

I am a great believer in fate, and that things happen for a reason.  This last ten days have made me question this belief.  But if there is some sort of sense to this tragedy, it would be that Martyn moved up with me so that we could get to know each other before Martyn left this world.   more 

Jonathan Picker

Jonathan and I met back in 1997 and I knew I had found my perfect partner.  We married the following year and had several wonderful years before we decided to have a family of our own.  In 2002 I gave birth to our beautiful son Thomas.  We had so many plans and dreams for our future, now these have been shattered and I have to make new plans alone for Thomas and my future.

It was Wednesday 27^th October 2004, Jonathan was feeling tired having been on jury service all day, but as he was home early he decided to catch up with his friends and play 5 a side football.  Jonathan got ready at home and was talking to Thomas, telling him how excited he was that he would be able to go out and buy little shin and ankle pads for him one day and how he was convinced that he would be a fantastic football player when he grew up and would play for England!   more

Sarah Jane Johnson

Sarah died at the age of 29 years on the 18th of August 2000, of an undetected heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy.  To see her you'd have never thought there'd be anything wrong with her. She was so fit and active and went to keep fit at the gym and also did yoga. She loved life, and she lived life to the full.

She achieved so much in her life.  She gained 9 "O" levels, as well as "A" levels, and went on to Birmingham University.  At the time of her death, she was an office manager for a company called P.D.C. Brush in Crewe.

Sarah loved watching her beloved Arsenal Football team, and also drawing, sketching, and painting - and she had an "A" level in Art.  She loved listening to many of her CDs and singing to them, and even did a few karaokes and won some prizes as well.   more

Emelvee

My little sister Emelvee, whom my parents nicknamed "bing-bing", passed away on March 31st 2005. I can't even fully describe her because she was a person that was indescribable. There was something about her that draws people to her and love her the instant that they meet her.

She was the most adorable child, my mom would always say that as a baby she would always hug everybody. I loved being with my little sister. Her company was just something that you look forward to.  more

Aaron Lundy

On Saturday, September 18th 1999 my life changed forever.  I received a phone call to come immediately to Coleraine Hospital.  When I arrived I was met by the doctor who told me that my youngest son Aaron was dead. 

Aaron had left home for work at 5am.  He returned at 10am and then went to play a football match.  He never came home.

There are no words to describe the shock and sorrow this had on myself, my wife Ann and our family.  We were told the next day by a doctor that Aaron had a condition called Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome and that he had been diagnosed when he was 16 years old by our doctor.  more

Kay Wilson

It’s now been eleven months since our daughter Kay left us.  We do not have to tell you how we feel, only that she along with her surviving sister Kelly, was one half of our life’s work and soul purpose for living.  We still do not understand why she died save the medical verdict was Myocarditis, underlying cause unknown.

She passed away on the 26^th April 2004 one day before her 19^th Birthday.  The previous evening was a celebration with her friends for her birthday when she returned home just before midnight.   Five hours later she collapsed on her bed and died instantly without warning.  Medical reports indicate no alcohol, and no drugs - cause of death unknown, and all our efforts to revive her were futile. more

Huw Lewis

On October 21st 2002, my brother Huw Lewis died during a game of football in Saudi Arabia, where he had lived and worked for over four years.  He left his pregnant wife Sarah and 5 year old daughter Molly, as well as a devastated set of parents, siblings, friends and colleagues.  Huw's death was additionally hard to take in as he was extremely fit, having played semi-professional football for many years.  He was also training to take part in the 2003 London Marathon.

Huw was not just my brother, he was also my best friend, and we had grown up playing sport together, drinking together and laughing together.  Our closeness was compounded by the fact that whilst I studied at University in Swansea, Huw was living and working in the city and then, when I moved to Cardiff to do a Masters degree, Huw also ended up moving to the city  more

Pete Reynolds

Pete died suddenly on 13 October 2004.  The shock, and despair his family, girlfriend and close friends feel cannot be expressed fully in words.

Pete was an outgoing and lively 27year old who lived his life to the full. He was a ‘natural’ at most sports and extremely fit.  A black belt in Tae Kwon Do, he also played football and was a regular at the gym where he thoroughly enjoyed weight lifting. In 2003 he completed the Stroud half marathon and also came third in the Tae Kwon Do British Championships held up in Birmingham.  There was no sport Pete didn’t enjoy and had recently become skilled at snowboarding and climbing. more

James Kelly

This photo of James was taken a few weeks before he passed away and the photo of him with his younger brother and sisters was actually taken the day before he collapsed.  As you can see from it, he looks very fit and healthy and appears to have nothing wrong with him.  I am so happy I took the children to have the photographs taken that day, as I was in two minds whether to go or put it off until a later date as, but for some reason I decided I may as well go.

The 5 of us had a wonderful day, getting their pictures taken (me getting hit with a beach ball and other items to keep the children smiling) and going for lunch. James also told me a few things I would never have known if we had not gone out that day, e.g. how he liked the feeling of polystyrene (or as he called it polyester) and dipping his chips into ice-cream. more