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 27th
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! That was the last time we saw Jonathan alive, he was a
fit and healthy 33-year-old full of life and had everything to live for.
Within 45 minutes of Jonathan
going out our front door I received a call from Jonathan’s best friend
Andy, who informed me that Jonathan had taken ill and was being taken to
the hospital. I arrived at the hospital accompanied by two of his
friends. Nothing in the whole wide world could have prepared me for what
came next - the consultant and the nurse walked in and broke the news that
Jonathan had passed away. I remember screaming and shouting - the pain
was excruciating. At that point my world fell apart, lots of things where
popping into my head; we had a 2 year old beautiful son, he needed a
daddy; what would I do without Jonathan he was my best friend, husband and
soul mate - it was a very surreal experience.
That
evening my own heart broken into a million pieces, as I had to tell
Jonathan’s parents that he had passed away when they arrived at the
hospital. I will never forget their faces, this will haunt me for
the rest of my life. Even after 9 months I still
feel like I am in a horrible nightmare that I cannot awake from.
The shock and numbness that I
feel is indescribable. There is not a day that goes by when I do not
mutter the same words over and over again, ‘why has my beautiful family
been torn apart? Why did Jonathan have to go?’ But the sad reality is we
will never know.
Jonathan was a hardworking
loveable man. He had one those infectious personalities that everyone
loved, and he was one of the most intelligent and quick-witted individuals
I’d ever known. Everything Jonathan did during his life - whether it was
sport or work orientated - he was successful, and so many of his friends
aspired to be like him, including myself.
There were two loves in his
life - me and our son Thomas. For both of us, having Thomas completed our
life. Both family and friends used to comment how besotted Jonathan was
with Thomas. Sometimes he was so over the top, only now looking back, it
makes me wonder whether this was because Jonathan had to pack 50 years
worth of love into 2.
During the last 2 years of
Jonathan’s life he commented on the odd chest pain that lasted several
minutes, but we always put it down to exercise or tiredness due to the
amount of driving he did to his office in the south. Also just under a
year before his death he felt dizzy and had several chest pains again
lasting just a few moments; but having undertaken several tests Jonathan
got the all clear.
Following Jonathan’s passing I
discovered CRY one evening in the depth of my despair when I was searching
for answers on the internet. I was shocked to see how many young people
had been taken by cardiac illnesses. From that moment forward I made a
decision; that Jonathan was not going to have died in vain, and that by
raising funds and awareness other young people might be saved from dying
and other families spared the suffering that we have had to, and still do,
endure.
It has been 9 months since
Jonathan’s passing and the pain is still so unbearable for all of us. We
are not sure where we go from here but what we do know is that Jonathan
will always be part of our lives and his memory will live on in those
lives he touched.
Fundraising has already
started with Jonathan’s friends. They have been so supportive to the
family and have sought raise money and awareness about CRY. Jonathan’s
friends organised a memorial football match and family fun-day back at the
beginning of June 2005 and raised £2400.00. The team have also put in
place a charity shield for both football and golf in memory of Jonathan,
and we hope to run the events year on year. I personally would like to
thank each and every one of the boys for their support, especially Andy,
Phil and Mike who helped organise the match and family fun day. I would
also like thank everyone that donated prizes and bought raffle tickets in
order to make the fundraising a success.
Other fundraising events are
by Leap Frog nursery, they are currently raising money from various events
such as a summer fete and fun-run later this year.
A big thank you to all of you
involved in fundraising and spreading the awareness of CRY.
Julie
Picker
