‘Danny will never be forgotten’

Lizzie Jones is determined to make something good come out of a tragedy

appily married with five-month old twins, Lizzie Jones thought life couldn’t get better. She’d met Danny, a rugby player for Keighley Cougars and wales, eight years earlier and the pair were inseparable.

But then, in may last year, tragedy struck. Danny was four minutes into a League one match when he collapsed. He was rushed by ambulance to the Royal Free Hospital in London but doctors could do nothing to save him.

a post-mortem revealed the cause of Danny’s death to be cardiomyopathy – an abnormal thickening of muscle around the heart. He was just 29. ‘There were no signs of anything at all,’ Lizzie says. ‘He was just perfectly happy and healthy… or so we thought. my only comfort was that the twins, Bobby and Phoebe, were too young to understand.’

To Lizzie’s horror, she discovered Danny’s condition could have been detected by the echocardiogram screening. He would have had the test if he’d played super League rugby or represented England rather than the welsh – who have less money.

Despite being deep in grief, Lizzie made an incredible decision. ‘I knew I had to speak out so that other people wouldn’t die like Danny and other families wouldn’t

Hsuffer like us,’ Lizzie says. ‘It kept me going and meant that the children saw me doing something positive rather than just crying.’

Raising awareness

It was the start of her quest to make sure every amateur and semi-professional athlete has their heart screened – a process that could have saved her husband’s life.

and, within three months, it was becoming a reality. Rugby league players at Championship and Championship 1 level were undergoing the echocardiogram test – which cost £35 each. ‘It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up,’ she says. ‘I don’t know how many people it’s saved, but if it’s one then it’s worth it.’

That august, Lizzie, a singer, bravely appeared at wembley stadium during the Challenge Cup final. with a haunting rendition of Abide With Me she raised awareness for her campaign in front of the 80,000 crowd. ‘I tried to think of myself not as Lizzie the wife or the mum, but as the singer,’ she says.

But that’s not all Lizzie has done. Through fundraising, she has raised money for defibrillator machines to be placed at pitches across the country – each one costs £1,000. ‘They improve survival rates by up to 70%,’ she says. ‘we’ve raised money for over 40 defibrillators – with players, fans and staff, that means we have the potential to save thousands of lives.’

and Lizzie, from Halifax, west Yorkshire, has set her sights further than just the world of rugby. ‘I want to get defibrillators into all schools too,’ she says.

Fitting legacy

It’s clear that knowledge is power and Lizzie is determined to make sure as many people as possible are aware that heart problems can strike at any age. It’s this tireless work that saw her winning the st John ambulance Everyday Hero award at a ceremony in London. For her, it’s a fitting legacy. ‘I hope Danny would be proud,’ she says. ‘nothing can bring him back, but saving other people is the next best thing.’

‘I knew I had to speak out’

to support Lizzie’s campaign go to justgiving.com and search for Danny Jones fund