I discovered my soulmate’s secret as he lay dying
Evie Morgan Bradburn, 19, from Cradley Heath, watched on as her boyfriend suddenly fell ill in the middle of the night...
Tucking into my dinner one evening in January this year, I smiled over at my boyfriend, Daniel Morgan, 19.
‘Stop staring at each other you pair of lovebirds and eat up,’ his mum, Lisa, 49, laughed.
And as we cleared away our plates, I could see Daniel was itching to go and play video games with his friends.
‘Go on,’ I nudged him, and watched as he bounded over to his Playstation and put his headphones on.
Daniel and I had met on Tinder in February 2020, both trying out the dating app for the first time.
Swiping right onto his profile, I was instantly attracted to him.
His face was kind and he’d listed all his favourite things, from Minecraft to watching movies late into the night – all of which I loved.
Meeting up for a date at Wetherspoons, we were nervous but we needn’t have been – we hit it off right away.
We became two peas in a pod, gaming and watching endless movies until stupid o’clock in the morning. Leaving him to play with his friends online, I got into my pyjamas and went to bed, waiting for Daniel to join me later.
An hour later, he clambered in beside me.
‘I’ve picked a film,’ I smiled. ‘Ah Big Hero Six,’ he grinned, ‘my favourite’. Wrapping me up in his arms, I pressed play on the film and popped a peck on his check. Snuggled up together, I had never been happier.
But as the movie finished, Daniel suddenly turned to me. ‘Evie, I’ve got a really bad headache,’ he grimaced.
I could see he was in pain. He’d suffered from migraines all his life, but they had become more regular over the last few months and I was starting to get worried.
The bad ones were becoming more frequent, causing him to throw up.
He’d always dismiss any of my concerns, but I knew this time was bad.
Stroking his back, I noticed his speech had started to slur. He wasn’t making any sense. ‘Evie...’ he tried to stutter. I watched as his eyes rolled back and my heart quickened. Something wasn’t right.
I ran from the room, and banged on Lisa’s bedroom door to wake her up.
By now, it was 2 o’clock in the morning.
‘Daniel’s not OK,’ I cried. ‘I think he’s having a stroke.’
Terrified, she pulled on her dressing gown and rushed to his room.
‘Let’s get him in the recovery position,’ she said, as soon as she saw him shaking.
Struggling to haul him onto his side, we called for an ambulance.
The paramedics arrived quickly, but as Daniel was a large guy, they battled to get him down the stairs.
After calling for backup, I watched on as the ambulance door closed behind him.
All I could see was a glimpse at Daniel’s lifeless body. Everything had happened in a blur, and as Lisa went with Daniel to the hospital, I waited at home with his twin sister Allanah, now 20.
With Daniel’s family rushing to be with us, all we could do was wait for a call.
I felt completely helpless.
And after hours of waiting and praying that Daniel would make it, Lisa finally called.
‘He’s brain dead,’ she sobbed down the phone. ‘He’s had a bleed on the brain.’ I completely broke down. Daniel was only 19. Surely he would be able to pull through?
As the day went on, I tried to hold on to a glimmer of hope.
But hour by hour, there was no progress.
There was still no brain activity and doctor’s delivered the heartbreaking news that nothing could be done.
Daniel was slipping away from us. The following
He was getting migraines more regularly
morning, I was finally able to go and see him in hospital.
Walking into Daniel’s room, he was covered in wires and hooked up to machines.
He was usually so strong, but as I looked at his lifeless body, he seemed so vulnerable.
It was heartbreaking. And as I sat clinging onto his hands, I prayed for a miracle. But it didn’t come.
My Daniel wasn’t going to make it.
Leaving other members of the family to say goodbye, I headed back to Daniel’s house, where his aunt Kaye, 53, was waiting for me. Squeezing my hand, she hugged me close.
‘He wanted to marry you,’ she said, tears in her eyes.
She told me how he had recently asked his mum for a family ring to propose with.
‘We want you to have it anyway,’ Kaye smiled. ‘We just have to find it for you first.’
My heart shattered into a million pieces all over again.
‘I wonder if he wanted to propose on Valentine’s Day?’ I asked, choking back tears.
‘I think he might have done,’ Kaye said, pulling me in for a hug. Daniel had wanted me to be his wife and I wished more than ever that I could spend the rest of my life with him. But it was too late.
The next morning, I went to see Daniel again.
By now, he’d been moved to a big room so his family could be there to say goodbye. We played a playlist of his favourite music and a priest came to bless mine and Daniel’s love – it was the closest we could get to marriage. Listening as the priest said a few words to us all, I held onto Daniel’s hand.
With his family gathered round, we were all in floods of tears.
And after the priest had gone, I sat down next to Daniel and pulled out a book that was in my bag.
It was meant to be a present for his birthday – a personalised story for him.
‘This is for you, Daniel,’ I said, gazing at him as I started to read.
After I had finished, I kissed him on the cheek and said one final goodbye. Daniel was gone. They took him off his life-support machine the next evening, once everyone had said their goodbyes.
I couldn’t bear being in the room when they unplugged the machine, but Lisa was by his side the whole time.
For me, it still didn’t make any sense.
How could Daniel be completely fine watching a movie with me one minute, then on life support in hospital just hours later?
It just didn’t feel real.
But as I arrived back at his house and went into his room, I perched on the end of the bed.
Making sure to stay on my side, the reality of him not being there hit me. The room was just as we’d left it, but without Daniel by my side.
I made a decision there and then that I would change my name legally to Evie Morgan Bradburn, double-barolling my name to include his surname – Morgan.
That way he’ll always be a part of me.
In the days that followed, I struggled to get out of bed in the morning.
Instead, I lay in Daniel’s bed, fiddling with the ring on my finger that Kaye and Lisa had found for me.
Since we lost Daniel, I’ve stayed at his house.
It’s meant I’ve been able to lean on his amazing family for support at such a difficult time.
Lisa and the entire family have been so incredible and have welcomed me in as one of their own.
I don’t know what I would have done without them.
I just keep wishing that it could have been me and not Daniel that this happened to.
He really was everyone’s favourite person, always making people smile.
He’d already signed up to be an organ donor and both his kidneys, his liver and the valve of his heart have been donated so far.
In some way, this gives us all some comfort to know that he’s saved three lives.
But it still hurts that he’s not here with us.
On 19 February, which would have been his 20th birthday, we gathered in the garden and released 30 blue balloons filled with messages from all of his friends and family up into the sky.
Gazing up as they floated away into the clouds, a tear slipped from my eye.
‘This is for you, Daniel,’ I sobbed.
It was beautiful, just like him.
I know I will never forget Daniel and the amazing person he was.
He always encouraged me to be a nurse, so that is exactly what I am going to do.
I’ve now applied to start my nursing degree and I want to work in the same hospital that cared for Daniel during his last few days.
I’m going to make sure that I do him proud.
He may not be here but he will always be a part of me and my life.
Daniel will always be a huge part of my life