Damian Langley, 47, jetted off to Thailand with friends and was due to return home to the UK, but fell seriously ill on the journey home and died in Qatar of pancreatitis and organ failure
A “caring” man who “lived to make people giggle” died while returning home from Thailand. Damian Langley, 47, delighted his relatives with photographs and footage of himself enjoying the sunshine in the popular tourist destination after departing with mates earlier this month.
He was scheduled to return to Manchester Airport on April 21. However, on April 19 his sister Nicola, 31, received a telephone call from one of his companions, alerting her that her brother had unexpectedly fallen ill.
She said: “They didn’t want to worry me. He had asked them not to tell me. But he had abdominal pains and he was complaining of seeing things. He was hallucinating. I said can you put him on the phone to me, but they said he’s asleep at the minute, he hadn’t been sleeping well.”
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Nicola was reassured not to fret, and that the party would be back in St Helens by Thursday, April 23. They travelled from Bangkok to Qatar on April 21, but while awaiting their connecting flight back to Manchester, Damian’s health deteriorated significantly.
Nicola said: “On the fight to Qatar he said ‘I really don’t feel well. I’ve got the worst pain in my tummy I’ve ever had’. So they took him to the medical centre at the Qatar airport. The medical people said he’s not going to make the flight, but gave him fluids and said they’d put him on the 7.30am flight on April 22nd, which would have brought him to Manchester for 2.30pm.”, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Damian’s friends flew back to the UK, while Nicola made arrangements to collect her brother from the airport the next day. However, after repeatedly calling Qatar airport, she was eventually informed that Damian’s boarding pass was still open — meaning he had never set foot on the plane.
What followed was an agonising 24 hours as she frantically contacted hospitals across Qatar, desperately trying to establish what had become of her brother. Nicola said: “It felt like someone was sat on my chest. I couldn’t concentrate. I was stood outside my work car park on the phone getting so frustrated because I was in a frenzy trying to find out how to get hold of him.”
Tragically, the family received the most devastating news when police arrived at their door at around 8.45am on Friday, April 24. They were informed that Damian’s condition had taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and he had been rushed to intensive care at Al Wakra Hospital in Qatar. He suffered pancreatitis and organ failure, and passed away on April 23.
His family now face a gruelling financial struggle, as repatriating Damian’s body back to the UK could cost as much as £11,000. Sadly, the labourer, who lived in Parr, had not taken out travel insurance before his trip — something his family had been unaware of. Nicola said: “For me, it’s like I’m trying to get all of this sorted so he’ll come home and walk through the door. It doesn’t feel like I’m bringing him home only for him not to be here any more.
“Working to get him home is like I’ve got a purpose. When you’re just sat there with your own thoughts, it hits you like a ton of bricks. I just found myself sitting in his bedroom looking at his stuff. My mum and dad were in bits. He was their first child and my mum was just 17 when he was born. They’re really not coping well.
“I’ve been at my mum’s house since Friday, and for 48 hours we didn’t have a minute of sleep, because as soon as you get five minutes of silence we’re sobbing. It got to the point we crashed and had a few hours sleep. But then you wake up in the morning and it hits you in the face straight away.”
Nicola said Damian had struggled with alcohol in the past, and had given up drinking for about two years before jetting off on his Thailand trip. She said she believed he did not tell his family about the holiday as they knew he would be surrounded by people drinking and partying.
She said: “He didn’t tell my dad because he knew he’d say ‘why go there when you know they’re all going to be drinking?’. The day he went, he said he was going to the gym – but in his bag was all of his stuff for Thailand, and he messaged our mum when he was out there.
“Damian lived every day as it came. He wanted everything to be fun. He was always laughing, trying to make everyone laugh, coming out with one-liners. Our middle brother is very serious, and they were completely chalk and cheese.
“His dog was his absolute world. He was called Jackson but we called him nightmare. If you saw the dog, you knew Damian wouldn’t be far away. Because he always had the dog to go home to, it gave him that stability. He was very caring. if there was ever a problem he’d listen to you and give advice you’d never even think of, and give a different spin on things. He’d give you his last pound. If he had a pound you both had 50p.
“All he ever wanted was to make you laugh. He was always cracking jokes and making people laugh or doing daft things. He lived to make people giggle. He was obsessed with gadgets and fixing things. He still has four bikes in my dad’s garage that he was fixing for his friends.”
A crowdfunding page launched by Damian’s friend Melissa Newman hopes to collect £9,000 to help cover the costs of bringing his body back to the UK and paying for his funeral. Melissa said: “As I’m sure those of you who knew Dame, knew he was a larger than life character, and put a smile on everyone’s face. He brightened every room he was in, I’m sure his friends and family would agree there was never a dull moment when Dame was around.
“We’ve created this Gofundme to help raise funds to bring Dame home, as he passed away overseas this can be costly but we want to help his family in any way we can so we can give him a proper send off and say our goodbyes.”
You can donate to the fundraising page by clicking here.
