Top surgeon’s son dies in pool after party at £3.5m mansion
THE son of one of Britain’s top neurosurgeons drowned in a swimming pool tragedy at the family’s £3.5million mansion.
Cambridge student Dominic Hamlyn, 24, is believed to have suffered a heart attack after a birthday party for his younger brother in the early hours of Sunday.
His surgeon father Peter yesterday paid a moving tribute to his ‘hero’ son – and revealed he had personally tried to revive him after he inexplicably sank to the bottom of the outdoor pool.
He described the amateur rugby player as a ‘superb athlete’ and a ‘beautiful boy’ who had delivered an unscripted 15-minute speech at his brother’s 21st birthday party just before he died.
Mr Hamlyn said in a statement: ‘There is no mystery, there were no drugs. He was swimming in his trunks, almost sober. He had just spoken for 15 minutes without notes.
‘He completed two lengths and then sank to the bottom. It was his youngest brother’s 21st and, shortly after giving a brilliant speech about him, Dominic went swimming with friends. He was immediately pulled from the water and a medical student started performing CPR until I came a minute later to take over.’
Mr Hamlyn said an ambulance had arrived quickly at the mansion in the hamlet of Crundale, Kent, and Dominic was stabilised and taken to hospital.
He added: ‘Two consultants worked on him throughout the night. A specialist team came to put him on a bypass. He died last night despite all their efforts.’
Mr Hamlyn, a world-famous brain surgeon who saved the life of boxer Michael Watson in 1991 when he developed a near-fatal blood clot on his brain after a bout with Chris Eubank, added: ‘There will be an inquest but he clearly had a heart attack – a brain scan ruled out a haemorrhage.
‘He was a superb athlete competing in both rugby and rowing at Cambridge.’
Dominic, who was studying for a business masters at Cambridge University, had returned to the eight-bedroom family home near Canterbury for the summer holiday.
He received a first-class honours degree in science and engineering from University College London. A spokesman for UCL said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of a much-loved and talented member of our alumni community.’