The family of Dan Lucas, the Guardian cricket and rugby writer who passed away suddenly two weeks ago at the age of 31, have set up a JustGiving page to raise money for juvenile diabetes charity JDRF.
Lucas suffered Type 1 diabetes and died of sudden heart failure caused by undiagnosed coronary heart disease and a gastric bleed exacerbated by his condition.
His funeral will be on March 30th and details can be obtained from his girlfriend, Liz, on elizabethaubreywrites@gmail.com.
Liz, who wrote a moving, eloquent and deeply personal tribute to Lucas for website Drowned in Sound, said: “I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all personally for the many messages of condolence and support that Dan’s family and I have received. It has given us enormous strength at this difficult time.
“Dan was very fond of all his cricket writing friends and would often talk about the work of his favourite writers for hours – obviously interspersed with Simpson’s references.”
Lucas’s mother, Tracey, wrote on the JustGiving site: “Words cannot express the depth of our loss and shock in his premature passing, this is something we will never get over. The support we have from our families and close friends continue to give us comfort.
“However, we have been overwhelmed by the tributes we have received from all over the world, we didn’t fully appreciate just how well loved and highly respected he was in the sports and music industry. Gary, Kirsty, Liz and I would like to thank everyone for this support and any donations given.
“Dan was diagnosed with diabetes just before his fifth birthday. However, he never let it stop him doing anything and everything in his life, he decided that life is too short to set limitations. We would like his memory to be preserved by the giving of money to juvenile diabetes to help further research so that other young people can live their lives to the full.
“Dan had become a great young man, a credit to all his family. Through great hard work and determination he had become what he always wanted to be – a journalist and writer for sport and music.
“His passion for sport, particularly cricket and rugby showed in his commentary for The Guardian and his love of such a wide variety of music shone through in the pieces he wrote for various music publications and websites. We all just hope he realised how immensely proud we are of what he achieved in just a few years.”
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tracey-lucas3
Tributes pour in for Guardian man Lucas
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