Lizzie Jones remembers the moment all too well. It is almost beyond belief that Wednesday is the second anniversary of her husband, Danny’s death, following a cardiac arrest during Keighley Cougars’ game against London Skolars in May 2015. The impact from Jones’s death at the age of 29 was felt far beyond the reach of rugby league.
“It still feels like yesterday,” she says. “Two years seems like such a long time and a lot has happened since but it’s not a day I like to think about too much. I like to focus on the happy times we had as a family and not dwell on that most horrible of days.”
Rugby league’s most endearing quality is that it rallies around those who need support: and the sport’s response to such a devastating tragedy has been incredible. In the Jones family’s hour of need, rugby league fans raised thousands of pounds to support Lizzie, plus twins Bobby and Phoebe, who were five months old when their father died.
Yet Jones decided it was only right to give something back. With the Rugby Football League and spurred on by her husband’s death, she set up the Danny Jones Defibrillator Fund to try to prevent such a tragedy occurring again. The results have been phenomenal and she is rightly respected for the work she has undertaken.
“My first thought was that I had to not only give something back but do something to make a difference in Danny’s memory,” Jones says. The goal of the fund was simple: to introduce defibrillators at every rugby league club at all levels in the UK. Each defibrillator costs £1,000 and an initial fundraising target of £50,000 will likely be met in the coming months.
Next month, Lizzie – who notably performed an emotionally-charged rendition of Abide With Me at the 2015 Challenge Cup final – is aiming to raise £10,000 when she climbs the Three Peaks in 24 hours with the former Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield.
“We’re well on for the goal,” Jones says. “The reaction to it has been out of this world and every penny goes back into screening, buying defibrillators and ultimately raising awareness. I didn’t want Danny to be just another number; people die and are never spoken about again but this legacy we’re leaving for him ensures he’ll never be forgotten.”
Jones has worked to raise awareness about the devastating effect sudden cardiac arrest can have on seemingly fit athletes. Almost immediately, with the support of the RFL – “who have been fantastic, unreal, incredible” – it was made compulsory for players at professional and semi-professional level to have access to screening to detect undiagnosed heart conditions like the one which took Danny’s life. In many ways, it was staggering those rules were not in place already.
But the changes have been significant. “When Danny played for Wales at international level,” she says, “he didn’t even have access to this. I had those laws changed very quickly and was backed by the RFL but we want to make a change at all levels, not just professionally.
“£1,000 doesn’t sound like a lot but for amateur clubs who work off charitable donations and volunteers, it’s huge. We’ve sent out dozens so far to clubs and our next step is to try to introduce screening for local communities and local clubs.”
Jones’ mission to cement her husband’s legacy and save lives is moving beyond rugby league. The issue of sudden cardiac arrest came into the spotlight again recently with the death of the former England footballer, Ugo Ehiogu: and Jones is working with other sports to raise awareness.
“My local running and cricket clubs have defibrillators now,” she says. “I’ve spoken with football and other sports about getting on board too. Young lads the same age as Danny have been affected in football and it makes us more determined to get working with other sports. Just one person surviving because of the work we’re doing makes it a success and saves someone having to experience what we had to.”
A rugby league player in the Masters version of the game for older players recently suffered a heart problem during a match in West Yorkshire: the Danny Jones Defibrillator Fund provided the kit that helped to stabilise him. “We know of people who have fainted, been to their GP because we’re raising awareness and had something diagnosed which has made sure they can be looked after.”
Keighley moved quickly to ensure Jones was remembered by naming their main stand after him but his legacy will run much deeper thanks to the incredible work being done to prevent another young family going through what the Joneses endured two years ago.
Donations to the Danny Jones Defibrillator Fund can be made here; details about the National Three Peaks Challenge can be found here.
