Tributes and memories

Dylan’s tragic death featured widely in regional and national news and social media. The BBC story is here.

An on-line remembrance book has been set up for Dylan and can be found here.

A tribute from Dylan’s football club (West Bridgford Colts) can be found here.

Dylan’s school tribute is in the West Bridgford Post here.

Dylan was named in the 2021 Sports Personality of the Year list of figures from the world of sport who died that year.

Dylan’s story

Dylan was a much loved teenager who had just started his last year in sixth form and was preparing to apply for university. As an infant he was lively and active, and throughout his childhood he spent countless hours playing a wide variety of sports. He was a member of local football, cricket, tennis and athletics clubs, regularly taking part in matches, events and competitions including at district, county and regional level. Dylan was fortunate to have the opportunities to participate in all of these sports and it is a fitting aim of the legacy fund to provide similar opportunities to young people who may otherwise miss out on all the benefits that come with sport and physical activity.

As well as enjoying his academic studies, Dylan had a strong sense of social justice and was increasingly passionate about the environment. A trip to Kenya in 2019 to help build facilities for local communities included opportunities to see the incredible wildlife at first hand. This spurred on Dylan’s love of nature and his concern to see it protected. It also resonated with his desire to see greater fairness in the world. The second aim of the legacy fund combines these passions of Dylan, supporting projects in Kenya that bring together nature conservancy and opportunities for training, skills and employment for local communities.

Dylan was 17 when he died as result of a sudden cardiac arrest. He was doing what he loved at the time – playing football in an FA Youth Cup match at the home ground of his club, the West Bridgford Colts. The club had a defibrillator on site and coaches and assistants with first aid training, and so Dylan was provided with treatment straight away. Ambulance crews quickly arrived and Dylan was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. Despite dedicated care and prayers from all round the world, following two days in intensive care, Dylan was declared dead on 5th September 2021. As well as the devastation for his family and friends, Dylan’s passing was a huge shock for the whole community. His life, though short, had been lived to the full and in doing so it had an impact on so many others.

As well as supporting and raising money for the legacy fund, Dylan’s friends and family have remembered him in many other ways. Trees have been planted, including at his school and its Biology field trip centre. Other clubs in the area have raised money for and installed defibrillators, and his football club and the local MP, Ruth Edwards, have campaigned for the removal of VAT for community groups purchasing defibrillators. Groups have raised money for cardiac screening, in particular through Cardiac Risk in the Young. The growing legacy reflects all that Dylan meant to those who knew and loved him.