On the 1st of May 2008, our beautiful precious daughter and wonderful sister to David was sadly taken from us, aged just 21. Leanne was at Uni studying sports and was in her 2nd year. She was an incredibly fit and healthy young lady which is why this is all so hard to understand. Leanne played
Hi, my name is Rachael Samuels, and on the 3rd September 2003 my mother passed away at the age of 42, due to breast cancer. I was 26 years old and my son Jamahl was 8 years old. I'm an only child and losing my mom was the worst thing that could ever happen to me
On the evening of the 13th December 2005, my 16 year old son David returned home from a kick boxing session. He was his usual self apart from the fact that he told me his heart was racing. I suggested that he had overdone it and his heart rate was just taking a while to get
Our daughter Hannah Turberville died suddenly on February 17th 2007 aged just 7 years old. Her death was made even more dramatic by the fact we were on holiday as a family, in France, due to return to England the following morning. We were skiing with Lucy, Hannah’s non-identical twin sister, and Oliver, her 8 year
When Gareth’s heart stopped on February 25th this year it broke all our hearts. Gareth was 21 years old, a graduate in International Politics and Law with his whole life ahead of him. He had recently moved into a house with three of his oldest friends and they were busy finding jobs and playing together in
Christmas day 2006 began much as any other day, with the familiar routine of dog walking and a hurried, rather cursory tidying up. I recall stuffing the Telegraph colour supplement under the chaise, thinking that the cover feature on the effects of melting ice caps on Polar bears had to be read, but was too sad
Simon was my oldest son, born on 6th October 1977. He was fit and healthy, a normal 29 year old who didn’t drink or smoke. On Friday 8th June 2007 I came home from doing some shopping to find Simon sitting at the computer. On my arrival he came into the kitchen and we had a
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
My son, aged 26 years, died on 15th January 2006, (born on November 22nd 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 15th, around lunchtime,
Let me take you back to the day in question, July 17th 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