‘Well loved’ motorbike-mad Gosport man, 33, mourned by heartbroken family after his sudden death due to epilepsy

Today, an inquest into the sudden death David Watkins found that the 33-year-old died as a result of his epilepsy.

David had been fighting his way back to health after suffering brain damage following of a severe epileptic fit in April 2020 which left him with speech, movement, and memory problems.

He had been discharged home from the Kite Unit at Southampton hospital about two months before his death, and was starting to rebuild his life at his new home in Gosport – where he was visited by carers on a daily basis – when he died.

His heartbroken parents, Carmen and Michael Vernon, attended the inquest to hear the evidence about their son’s death.

David’s mum said: ‘I feel like the whole world is falling apart since he’s gone.’

Mr Vernon, Michael’s stepdad, told the court how on March 6, 2021, he climbed a ladder to get into his son’s flat when no one could get into contact with David for two days running.

He said: ‘We were getting very concerned.’

After alerting the neighbours, Mr Vernon had accessed the flat at Wyatt Court, Salt Meat Lane, through the patio doors on his balcony, and found David inside his home.

Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard from Dr Adnan Al-Badri, who performed the post-mortem examination on David, as the doctor noted that amphetamines and caffeine had been found in David’s toxicology report.

Judge coroner Sarah Whitby concluded that David’s death was a result of epilepsy, and his death was recorded to have taken place on March 5, 2021.

She said: ‘David was well looked after and well loved.’

Mrs Vernon said David, known to his family as ‘Dinx’, would always remember to bring her a bouquet of flowers on Mother’s Day.

She said: ‘When he was little, he used to pick them up from the park – which was naughty, but daffodils were a significant part of our life.’

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‘He was so good with anything to do with anything technological.

‘He got on with anybody.’

Before his brain injury, David worked in a number of jobs including cleaning and forklift driving, and also worked at a Wickham dairy for a time.

‘He was a jack of all trades,’ added Mr Vernon, who remembered his son as ‘very helpful’.

He added: ‘I work a lot in the garage, and I built David a motorbike for his fifth birthday.

‘I remember him learning to ride his bike and looking round to find out I let go of his seat, and he was fine after that.’

Motorbike-mad David idolised Valentino Rossi, and also loved fishing and camping.

After the inquest, Mrs Vernon added: ‘We came to Pompey once a month and we would just have a good laugh and a joke.

‘David was my world and it felt like the world has ended.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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