Charity cricket match held in honour of Danny Shurmer as fundraising for defibrillators surpasses his family’s expectations

Danny Shurmer, 43, died after suffering cardiac arrest on Thursday, June 17, after returning from work to the home she shared with fiancee Jill Couchman.

The sports fan, who lived with fiancee Jill Couchman, had been a popular member of Hartlepool Cricket Club for more than 30 years, having joined as a junior aged 10, and going on to represent the first and second senior teams.

Following Danny’s passing, his parents Pam and Bill Shurmer along with David Cairns, set up a group named DS43 Community Defibrillators to help raise money to purchase defibrillators for the public areas of Hartlepool.

Friends, family and well-wishers remembered Danny with a charity cricket match on Sunday, August 29, to raise money for DS43 Community Defibrillators, to help ensure other lives are not lost to cardiac arrest.

The match took place at Hartlepool Cricket Club, in Park Drive, between a Dave Challinor XI and a Hartlepool Cricket Club XI.

Ahead of the match, Danny’s mum Pam gave her thoughts on what he son would have made of all the fundraising efforts.

She said: “He didn’t like to be in the limelight and he’d probably be quite embarrassed to be honest but I think he would be blown away.

"My husband and I both see the number of lovely things that we read about our son and the fact that people are doing all of it, it is bittersweet.

“We just hope at some point, the pride in Daniel will take the pain of losing him away.”

In the days following Danny’s tragic death, his family revealed how Jill had given Danny CPR whilst on the phone to 999 and the first response paramedic arrived less than five minutes later.

His family originally wanted to raise enough money for three defibrillators in the area where Danny lived however due to the amount of donations, it is estimated that around 10 will be put across the town.

Pam added: "It is absolutely phenomenal and the people of Hartlepool have been fantastic but we’ve actually had donations from as far away as Leeds and that was actually a £3,000 donation.

"So bearing in mind that Daniel has only been passed just over 10 weeks, it’s just racing away.

"Daniel would be humbled by what has happened and everybody has been fantastic, it is all done in his memory.”

The danger of cardiac arrest is well known by Tom Hickey, who has donated the whole cost of a defibrillator to the charity after his dad, Phil Hickey, who had worked for the Hartlepool Mail, died when he was just four-years-old.

Tom, who now lives in London, commented: “My dad was just 36-years-old when he died of a heart attack so hearing what happened to Danny, it is good that something positive can come out of it so that the same thing doesn't happen to more families.

"I think it will make a massive difference having them around the town but hopefully they don’t need to be used.

"If they get used only once, it is worth it as using it in the time of waiting for an ambulance could make all the difference.

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