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 19th May 2006. Our daughter Lisa, 23, a staff nurse…

Until the 26th July 2007 as a family we had a lovely life. On the 27th 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…

10th December 2012 – a day that will stay with me and my family forever… 16 years earlier I had been blessed at 35 with a lovely son, brother to Louise and Leanne, aged 15 and 13. A bit of a surprise, but he brought so much joy to our lives. On the Sunday we all…

BETWEEN THOSE SMILES The look of mischief The smile disguising the next naughty move The unread tale: Books, cuddles…. too boring! You understood: life was for living, exploring. You rushed at life, running first, never walking. Your early philosophy: To cram as much into each day as possible. Always be busy, investigating and — should being…

On the 24th 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…

Faye was only 25 years of age when she so suddenly died. She was within days of going on a ‘once in a lifetime’ holiday to America when we found her dead in bed on the morning of 30th October 2006. The doctors knew that Faye had a heart block problem, but as she had a…

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 27th 2007, which just happened to be my birthday. The day began with usual birthday wishes and…

Jude was born on October 19, 2006, in ARI Aberdeen, a precious son to Eric and Ruth and brother to Lois and Maya.  Jude embarked on his educational journey at Scouthall Playgroup in Westhill before moving on to Elrick school. He spent seven joyful years there before transitioning to Westhill Academy, where he was in his fifth year. Jude had a fondness for the social aspects of school, though he was less enthusiastic about the academic work. Despite this, he successfully passed all his Nat5s and was preparing for his higher exams….

My sister Ciara was full of life. She was two years younger than me. Growing up we had the usual fall outs sisters have but as we reached our teenage years we became more than sisters, she was my best friend. You would never see one of us without seeing the other one which people still…

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…