TODAY, on Mother’s Day, Nicky Parris will sit on the memorial bench which is dedicated to her “kind, funny and thoughtful”; son Daniel and remember just how much they meant to each other.
Electrician Daniel appeared to be the picture of health before he collapsed in February 2021, aged just 23, and died from sudden cardiac death, which claims around two people under 35 every day in the UK.
Days later, his fiancée Holly sent Nicky a Mother’s Day card that explained exactly what she meant to her son: “He was the happiest boy around you, a mummy’s boy who loved you so much.
“He would want you to have the best day that you could. You’re such an amazing mum and should be proud of yourself for raising such a beautiful boy who grew into such an amazing fiancé and dad.”;
And today, Daniel would truly be proud of his mum.
Not only has Nicky, 58, raised nearly £50,000 in his name to try to stop other families suffering the same crippling grief as theirs, but today she has also been named as the winner of Flying Eze on Sunday’s Mum Idol competition.
‘Amazing and strong’
Fighting back tears, Nicky said: “I have just tried to do what I can to help to raise awareness about the condition so other mums don’t go through what I have.
“I really can’t believe that I’ve won this prize. I feel overwhelmed and so happy. Daniel would be proud.
“I will sit on the bench on Sunday and tell him.”;
Her eldest son Matthew, a police officer, nominated civil servant Nicky from Hastings, East Sussex.
He told us how, when many mothers would have crumbled, Nicky decided to fight to help others.
Daniel — a fit, gym-loving, 6ft 2in man who was planning his wedding to Holly and was a doting dad to his five-month-old daughter Olivia — collapsed and died in a residential property while fitting lights.
Nicky said: “He was mature for his years, as if he was older somehow. He had his own home.
“We had been to look at the venue for his wedding and he really was a doting dad. He would talk about prams to me and how he and Holly had plans for the future.
“We were so close. He would ring me if he wanted tips on what temperature to do his washing and would always pop in to see me even though he lived with Holly.
“He’d been a bit short of breath at night but his GP thought it was asthma, which runs in our family.
“In hindsight it was probably the first symptom of the previously undiagnosed heart disease. But that was it — he had never complained before, he’d never collapsed. We thought he was fit and healthy.
“When he died, my world was torn apart. It didn’t make sense that it was his heart. He wasn’t a man who got stressed — he’d always been so laid-back, even as a little boy.”;
When he collapsed, the owner of the home where he was working called for an ambulance.
Matthew, 33, was on duty and went to the scene. Tragically, his little brother Daniel died next to him.
Experts have since suggested that Daniel may have been suffering from Brugada syndrome, a rare but serious condition affecting the way electrical signals pass through the heart.
She is amazing and strong — she is saving lives. She’s like our super mum.
Nicky's son Matthew
It can cause the heart to beat dangerously fast. If he had been screened, his life may have been saved. After his death, Nicky and Daniel’s fa- ther, Tony, 58, started to look into sudden cardiac arrest.
They found that 12 young people between the ages of 14 and 35 die every week from it and 80 per cent occur with no prior symptoms — but screening could save many lives.
Nicky said: “We were all tested and it came back clear. But we needed counselling as we were in shock. The charity, Cardiac Risk In The Young, helped us get the specialist therapy we needed.”;
The charity works to prevent young sudden cardiac death by raising awareness, funding screenings and research. Nicky started to raise money for them.
She said: “My husband, who works as a greenkeeper, helped me arrange a golf day, then it kind of snowballed from there.
“Then there were friends who did charity runs, a friend did a skydive and there have been more golf days, social events, sponsored walks and raffles.
“It helped pay for a screening day locally to us. Of the 103 people screened for heart abnormalities, three were picked up who needed further investigation. We are now arranging another.”;
The money raised has paid for defibrillators to go in police cars too.
In his nomination letter to Flying Eze on Sunday, entering Nicky to be our Mum Idol winner, Matthew proudly wrote: “My mum has always been troubled by the fact that the police officers who were first on the scene to attend to my brother were unequipped with a defibrillator, meaning that Dan did not receive the immediate help he needed until the ambulance arrived some minutes later.
“As a serving police officer, I know full well that defibrillators are not compulsory equipment for police cars, despite the fact that my colleagues are often faster to the scene than ambulance crews.
Super mum
“We wanted to change this, so my mum supported and provided further fundraising so we could purchase and donate defibrillators to Hastings police. So far, we’ve kitted out several cars.
“None of this would have happened without Mum. She is amazing and strong — she is saving lives. She’s like our super mum.”;
Nicky, who also has daughter Kiera, 21, now wants to kit out the entire fleet for her local town and has a long-term goal of equipping every police car in the South of England with a defibrillator.
She said: “We are setting up the Daniel Parris Foundation to do this and the defibrillators will have a picture of Daniel on them.
“I want to do it for Daniel. I know he would have done it for me. I have just been so determined since his death to try and help other people.”;
But now, thanks to our amazing prize, Nicky will be able to — briefly — put her feet up.
She has won prizes worth thousands of pounds, including a two-night stay at the London Hilton on Park Lane, a family getaway at a Eurocamp destination of her choice, a year’s supply of pizza, chocolates from Lily O’Brien’s, cocktails from Gather Gourmet Cocktails, a year’s membership to Snap Fitness UK and a luxury photo shoot.
Nicky said: “I feel like Daniel is watching over me and he somehow played a part in me winning. This will certainly be a happy Mother’s Day this year. I am so grateful.”;
Our head judge, Apprentice star and mum-of-two Karren Brady, who has had Automated External Defibrillator training herself, hailed Nicky as a deserving winner.
She said: “I chose Nicky for the difference she’s making to people with her fundraising and the availability of defibrillators, while going through the pain of losing her son.
“I had extended first aid training to be defibrillator trained, so I know how important it is.”;
See c-r-y.org.uk.
