Tracy Boswell, 45, from Tamworth, has issued a heartfelt plea to parents after her 17-year-old son Daniel died following a bike accident. Daniel left home for college on May 21, 2024, and never returned.
Collision with a delivery driver
According to Tracy, Daniel was cycling to Nuneaton on his much-loved bike when he collided with a delivery driver. Tracy told BirminghamLive: "He bumped into a delivery driver. Not the actual van, but the driver on foot. The delivery driver was getting laminated flooring out of his van, and he did a 360 somersault over the man and landed on the right side of his head."
Daniel was not wearing a helmet at the time. Tracy said despite asking her son numerous times to wear one, "he wouldn't wear one."
Critical condition and surgery
Following the accident, Daniel became unconscious and was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Tracy said: "I raced down from Tamworth to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. If it wasn't for my sister, I would have crashed my car."
Doctors informed the family that Daniel had fractured his skull and a small bleed on his brain, leaving him in a "critical" condition. Tracy recalled: "When I got there, they were putting a bolt on his head to monitor the bleed on the brain."
Daniel was transferred to intensive care, where hospital staff told Tracy he would need imminent surgery because the bleed on his brain had extended to 65 per cent. Tracy said: "As they were in surgery, they were draining the bleed off the brain and his brain was actually exceeding outwards. They couldn't stop his brain from exceeding, so they had to stop the surgery. They couldn't close his actual skull. It was left open because of the brain exceeding outwards. They put a bandage all the way around his head with no bone on it."
Death and grief
Tracy described the first time she saw her son on life support as a moment that 'broke her'. She said: "I saw him for the first time [on life support], I went back out of the cubicle. I couldn't go in there. It literally broke me. Seeing him like that."
Daniel passed away on May 22, 2024, just a day after being admitted to hospital. Breaking down in tears, Tracy said: "It broke me. It literally broke me and it still has now. It's broken me to bits. Losing my own son, my own flesh and blood, it's something that you can't get over. It's just not fair. Why is life so cruel? Why do we have to live with all this grief?"
Plea to parents
Tracy has now taken it upon herself to raise awareness of the importance of wearing a helmet. She said: "I wish, from when he was young, I had taught him to wear a helmet. My mum keeps saying, you can't blame yourself. But, if I did [teach him to wear a helmet] maybe it would have become a regular thing for him. Maybe he would have put it on naturally, because the kids these days think it's not fashionable. Well, even if it is unfashionable, at least you'll still be around to tell the tale because my son didn't wear a helmet. It saves lives."
Issuing a message to any parents, Tracy continued: "If you've got a child that likes going out on their bike, please encourage them from an early age to wear a helmet. Please put a helmet on them, because helmets do save lives. I don't want any other parent or family to go through what me and my family have gone through. I really don't."
