Mum’s heartfelt tribute to ‘little gentleman’ after death at just 12

THE family of a much-loved boy paid tribute to him after he died suddenly days after saying: “I think it’s my heart, Mummy?

- JONATHON HILL Reporter jonathon [e-mail]

Harrison Angell-Chapman died aged just 12 on May 6 last year after suffering a cardiac arrest at the family home in Betws, near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, leaving his family and the whole community devastated.

He was a popular member of the school community at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, and his friends and teachers celebrated him with balloons and his favourite basketball on the day of his funeral at the Chapel of Rest at Bwtrimawr, Betws.

Harrison's mother, Sarah Angell, said Harrison, known fondly as Harry, to her knowledge had no underlying health conditions and had never been seriously ill. “He had a severe viral infection in the weeks before but he hadn't otherwise been ill’ Sarah remembered.

“The heart isn’t something you think about at that age, is it? We thought we'd be better safe than sorry and so we booked an appointment but Harry said he'd improved then so we cancelled that appointment. I was a GP's receptionist myself and I knew how precious appointments were.

“But on the Friday morning he suddenly said: ‘I think it's my heart, Mummy’ He wasn’t right that bank holiday weekend but he wasn’t too bad either. He wasn’t playing his games as he usually would but he was lying on the sofa with a hot water bottle on his shoulder and I remember he came with me to Tesco and he seemed OK.

“He talked about how he was going to go back to school on the Tuesday after the bank holiday, but then about half an hour before he collapsed he said: ‘I don’t think I can: I said ‘OK’ and I was making arrangements for the following day for him to be with his gran because I needed to go to work.