Daniel Vaughan Hughes (7 Feb 1985 - 17 Oct 2019)

Gan Llinos a John er cof am Dan, gyda llawer o ddiolch am eich gofal. From Llinos and John in memory of Dan.

Love and fond memories of Dan 💕 from Shirley (Elin’s mum)

Love and fond memories of Dan from Shirley (Elin’s mum) 💕

Remembered fondly

Eulogy delivered at the funeral service today:

Firstly, on behalf of the family, I'd like to thank you all for coming today to remember and celebrate the life of Daniel Vaughan Hughes, who, at the age of 34, was someone who was taken from us at far too early an age. Croeso a diolch i chi gyd am ddod heddiw i gofio a dathlu bywyd Daniel. Tack för att du kom till minnet av Daniel.
It was a cold February in 1985 when Daniel made it into the world. I recall that the estuary of the Seiont River in Caernarfon froze over - a most unusually rare event; it was positively Baltic! At the top of the charts, Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige were warbling ‘I know him so well’, a song from the musical ‘Chess’, composed by Benny and Bjorn from Abba. I’ll be returning to the themes of the Baltic, and Abba, later on.
Daniel was always a happy, hyperactive child, keen on cars and athletics. I was a primary school teacher at the time, and recall that he had excellent observational skills. We could all benefit from being better observers, rather than rushing to conclusions. Daniel could, for example, recognise the models of cars from their individual body parts. When his dad was a frequent visitor at a breakers yard in Widnes, sourcing spare parts, Dan would be challenged by the breakers yard staff who were amazed that he could identify headlamps, indicator assemblies and doors to any model they presented him with. They could never catch him out.
As he got older, Daniel excelled academically and studied for an English with Journalism degree at Bangor University. Dan made several friends from all over the UK and Europe, and was a frequent visitor to family members nearby. Here he was able to enjoy his love of music and a good party. We could all benefit from appreciating the moment, and having fun. I recall meeting up with him at a pub in Bangor, at the time. Lots of alcohol was consumed. I wish I could tell you what happened, but I do remember the monumental hangover I had the following day!
Dan worked for a while within the NHS, but though he was doing well, he became restless and decided to study for a Master’s degree at the excellent Karolinska University in Stockholm. He took a job as a barista to support himself.
In February 2013, in order to help pay the rent, Dan volunteered to have an MRI scan for a research project being undertaken at the university and it was during this scan that he was diagnosed as having a brain tumour. Daniel opted to have surgery in Stockholm and was back at a staff meeting after two weeks, much to the consternation of the café owners.
Dan always enjoyed keeping fit. We could all benefit from being as keen on fitness as Dan. The family remembers attending one event when a complete stranger to him suddenly announced, “It’s gym man!!” as he was known at the gym he attended.
In Stockholm he started to complete training to be a Personal Trainer and also began courses in the Swedish language which he eventually claimed to be moderately good at.
His job at a café meant he picked up a little of many European languages and, combined with his ability to strike up a conversation with anyone, this led to him being very popular.
He told a story of the team in the café using language that was unsavoury and he was worried it would be picked up by younger customers visiting with their parents. As team lead, he lectured them about moderating their language. Immediately following this whilst serving a little old lady “eighty, if she was a day”, she spilt hot chocolate over his brand new trainers. Knowing he could not utter anything the other staff would recognise as swearing, he shouted out the rudest Welsh word he knew knowing it would not be understood. Only for the little old lady to beam at him and say “O cariad! Ti’n siarad Cymraeg!”
Despite ongoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Dan continued to live life at full pelt, enjoying himself and being far too busy to be ill.
Dan enjoyed Eurovision more than most, having an encyclopaedic knowledge of contests present and past. Journeys in a car would be punctuated with eclectic music playlists ranging from operatic versions of “You’ll never walk alone” to “Those Magnificent Men in their flying machines”.
A year ago exactly, in late October 2018, Dan heard the devastating news that he was no longer fit enough to work as a PT. He came home and treatment continued in the UK. Despite this, there were twice weekly visits to the gym in Wrexham and these continued to July. The family would like to thank those who visited him as he really relished those visits and trips out.
Dan will be remembered for his sense of fun and a scalpel sharp sense of humour, but also for his compassion and willingness to help others. We could all benefit from being as encouraging as Dan. He spoke proudly of his clients when he felt they had achieved personal goals and improvements in fitness. The many tributes from people of all backgrounds on his Facebook page give testimony to his outgoing personality and ability to embrace and inspire anyone.
In our view he did not fight cancer, he was far too busy living life well to dwell on his illness and until near the end simply got on with what he wanted to do. A Kylie Minogue concert and a trip to Wimbledon tennis tournament were just two of the activities for the family this summer.
So please, when you remember Daniel, please don’t be sad, be happy for the life he lived and loved.
Observant, clever, fun, fit, popular, encouraging: we would all benefit from being a little more like Daniel.

💕

All our love Laura & Richard

Now, who’s gonna answer all the insanely obscure tennis questions?....
Thank you for being in my life, and for just being you. Xxx

In loving memory of our dear friend dan. Love Nicola, Lucy and Shane

In loving memory of our dear friend dan. Love Nicola, Lucy and Shane

My thoughts are with you all, he'll always be that sharp-witted man full of energy who made a massive lasagne with ketchup and brown sauce! Tim Xxx

Er cof annwyl.

I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. Dan was taken so very young. He was such a great guy. You have my deepest condolences.

I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of Dan; he was taken so very young. He was such a great guy. You have my deepest condolences.

Diolch am ofalu am Dan mor dda yn ystod ei ddyddiau diwethaf/ Thanks for caring so well for Dan in his final few days.

Miss you 💔 love you ❤️