Born on 19th March 1961 and died on 19th February 1981. One month away from his 20th birthday, poor kid. I'd guess he must have had some form of cardiomyopathy (heart defect). That's often the case with sudden death during exercise at that sort of age.
I wonder if they knew of him having a pre-existing heart condition (assuming that's what it was?). It's not such a daft question as it may sound. Some of you may remember the footballer, Asa Hartford? A very good player for West Brom. His proposed transfer to Leeds United broke down in 1971 when the Leeds club doctor discovered he had a heart defect during a routine examination. Hartford was 21 at that time and totally unaware of it.
These are congenital heart defects, i.e. children are born with them, but they don't always get detected until later life, at least, they didn't use to, not so long ago, I'm sure we've got better at it now.
My elder brother came home from school one day when he was about 9 years old, with a letter. He'd had a school medical that day. When my parents saw the brown envelope they thought it was probably a letter from the "nit-nurse" advising that he'd got "dicks" (that's what we called nits). When they opened it, it turned out he'd got a heart abnormality. Can you imagine the shock of that? My mother told me years later that it was the only time she saw my father (a tough Derbyshire Coal Miner) cry.
Hospital visits followed and the heart defect was identified as something called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). A "hole in the heart", along the lower wall of the chamber. Over 60 years later he's still alive and kicking. He's had open-heart surgery twice and is on warfarin. But, at least he's managed to live with the condition and have a decent life.
My heart goes out to anyone who loses a child for whatever reason. It must be the worst feeling on earth. I'd rather die myself than see one of my kids die. So heaven knows what Mr and Mrs Solomon must have felt when that tragedy befell their son. The chances are they probably didn't know anything was wrong with him and one minute he's a fit healthy young kid - the next he's gone from their lives forever.
Not a very cheery thing to be talking about at this festive time of year perhaps, but maybe it is a reminder to all of us to cherish our loved ones whilst they are here - no matter what divides us - because life is so precious. I'm going to give my kids a really big hug now! (They'll think I'm drunk probably!)
in an ideal world death would be just for the elderly.
