‘Giant of a man’ dies two days after 39th birthday

THE family of a bodybuilder who died two days after his 39th birthday have paid tribute to ‘a giant of a man.’

Darren Vernon, from Blackley, died at North Manchester General – a day after he went to A & E complaining of muscle cramps.

The cause of his death on July 2 is not currently known, and his family is waiting on results of further tests after a post-mortem proved inconclusive.

His mum Audrey Parris described him as an ‘extra special’ person who ‘excelled at absolutely everything he did.’

He competed in numerous body building competitions around the world – including Mr Universe – for over two decades.

Audrey said: “I watched him growing up and there was just something about him.

“He stood out from the crowd. He had an aura around him that I could never quite put my finger on.

“Throughout his whole life he was remarkable. When he finished school he got an award for 100 per cent attendance and punctuality – he was such as hard worker.

“He became an amazing brother to his three younger siblings, he was very protective of them.

“He was 10 when I had my third child and he read all the maternity books. He was adamant that he was coming with me to the hospital when I gave birth.”

Audrey says Darren, who grew up in Old Trafford, was a natural leader who everyone looked up to, and ‘who took the weight of the world on his shoulders and ran with it.’

She said: “He was a really fastmoving person. His passing shocked me but I think subconsciously I was expecting it – he crammed so much into his 39 years. He was not tall but he was a giant of a man.”

Darren, a dad-of-two who ‘lived for his boys,’ worked as an architec- tural technician at Taylor Wimpey, having started out in the industry at the age of 16, and gained numerous qualifications including a degree with first class honours.

The house he bought in Blackley is on the Booth Hall site, which he helped to design.

Hundreds of people turned out to Darren’s funeral, which was held in Urmston, and to the wake at Gorton Monastery – Audrey says she was overwhelmed by the number of people there.

She said: “He has left a huge legacy. It is the biggest loss I have ever experienced. He has had such an amazing effect of so many people, it has shocked me. He had the words ‘everything happens for a reason’ tattooed on his body in Latin, and it was a phrase he used a lot.

“He lived more than one life in a very short space of time. He was an amazing person and it was a privilege to have known him.”