Swindon man's unexpected death leaves family 'shattered'

For the past several months, a series of fundraising events called Danny’s Day have been taking place in Swindon. But who is Danny, and what are they raising money for?

Danny Lynch, 40, was extremely popular and well-known in his local Pinehurst community.

Having to contend with complex learning difficulties didn’t set him back at all. He loved women, horse racing, Diet Coke and food. He loved trainers, doing puzzles and football. He was happy and loved life.

He died unexpectedly last year following complications that arose during surgery at a hospital in Bristol.

The family has since formed the charity Ask Danny, which aims to raise awareness of people with complex learning difficulties in hospitals and to ensure that learning disability nurses have more say in the care of patients with learning difficulties.

Danny Lynch (Image: Ask Danny)

This is partly because mum Maria, 57, believes there were serious failings at the Bristol Royal Infirmary with healthcare professionals not understanding Danny’s needs and not listening to her. 

Maria says she regularly clashed with staff at the hospital over what Danny needed during this time and that it was a "living nightmare".

Danny initially had successful heart surgery but complications during a subsequent tracheotomy led to him needing to be resuscitated.

But he was effectively braindead, and Maria had to make the heartbreaking decision to switch off his life support.

“They put his death back in our hands,” she said, “I led on his chest and heard his last heartbeat.”

The impact of Danny’s unexpected death has, in Maria’s words, “shattered our family, like a nuclear bomb hit our roof and blew us all apart.”

Their home, full of memories of the person Danny was, complete with his bedroom which remains untouched since the day he left it, feels a lot quieter and emptier without him.

The charity has given Maria something to focus on in Danny's absence, and she says she wants to ensure that hospitals are kitted out with items that will provide reassurance to adults with learning difficulties. 

This includes a calming comfort bear based on one that Danny used to love, and a ‘box of tricks’ containing things that used to calm Danny down.

Danny's 'box of tricks' (Image: Ask Danny)

To fundraise for this, they’ve held Ask Danny Days at the local Shield and Dagger, which are essentially traditional fun days with a fair attraction, a raffle, bingo, performances and tabletop sales.

Each day raises roughly £2,000, all of which will go towards improving care for people like Danny in hospitals.

Maria said: “I felt honoured to look after him, he was our life, I felt like I was chosen to have him, and I wanted to look after him forever.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through what we went through, and still going through.”

An inquest into Danny’s death has been launched, with a preliminary hearing scheduled in August.