The evening of March the 18th 2015 was the last time Sue and myself saw our son Dan alive, it was about 9:30 P.M. when he walked past the living room door and said “I’m going up now Dad”; I replied “O.K. son I’ll see you later”; The next time Sue saw him he had passed away in his sleep. Here’s Dan’s story…..
We had been chatting with him over dinner as normal, he was his usual chirpy self; laughing and joking as he pretty much always did. Sue had gone to bed earlier leaving us working on a project on his Ipad, She heard Dan get up and go to the bathroom at around 1am on the 19th of March, he returned to his room, closed his door and went to sleep. He never woke up! I went to work at 5am blissfully unaware that our son was already dead – Sue got up around 6 and when Dan had failed to rise by 7a.m. she went up to his room expecting him to have overslept or hit the snooze button. He didn’t answer when she knocked on his bedroom door so she entered and found him lying in his bed in a normal sleeping position, his eyes closed and his head resting on his hands. It was, however, obvious by his colour that something was very wrong, he was unresponsive and when she touched him to shake him he was cold and his limbs had started to stiffen. She rang the emergency services and performed CPR, when the first responder arrived he confirmed Sue’s worst fears that it was too late save Dan. She rang me at work to tell me that our son had died; it’s a phone call that no one should ever have to make or receive and one that neither of us will ever forget.
That experience is what drives us on, we don’t want other people going through what we had to. Our work with CRY is now a large part of everyday life for ourselves and our daughter Kim. Over 50 screening days already staged via Dan’s memorial fund, a new van and an ECG machine purchased, a walk and talk group established and I am a member of CRY’s bereavement support team. Being asked to become representatives for CRY is something we feel very proud about and we take very seriously, we will work had to raise awareness for this great charity locally and further afield.
Dave & Sue Hughes
