This page pays tribute to Adam Nicholas Jones, from his parents and his brother. It describes what happened to him. Through reading this and through fund raising, we hope that something positive might come out of his tragic and early death.

Adam's death and life
Our son Adam, died of acute liver failure, brought on by acute alcoholic toxicity and alcoholic liver disease.  Despite Intensive Care doing all they could for him for five days solid, he did not survive.  He was only 31.

Adam was very bright with a BA Hons in History, and became a Web Analytics expert.  At Stamford School he was Captain of the Rugby 1st XV. At Warwick University, he became a black belt first dan in Judo at just 19, and in 2009 won the "Warwick Sport Most Improved Sportsman" award awarded across all sports. He won national medals in university judo competitions.  He was loved by his friends and work colleagues.  He was known as entertaining, well-read and good fun.  And yet, this happened to him. (There are many photos of Adam in the gallery on this page.)

By the time he was admitted to hospital, his liver was barely functioning, and his kidneys were also in a really poor state.  For a couple of years he had been experiencing epileptic seizures and panic attacks.  These may have been related to his alcohol use, perhaps triggered or exacerbated by a stressful event in his life, or possibly caused by something else. We do not really know.  Prior to his final admission to hospital, despite various medical tests nothing specific had been found.  (Just to be clear it was not Covid-19 related)

Needing and asking for help....
Adam's close friends tried to help him.  We, his parents, tried to help him. His work offered help.  Unfortunately, he still died… so young.

The one glimmer is that when he rang us, the night he was taken into hospital, he said he had recently decided to seek professional help for his problems.  Sadly, by then, it was too late to make a difference.

We initially felt many emotions, including shame...
As his parents we were shocked… saddened… angry…  As his father I have never cried so much in my life.  My brother said, "the right words are impossible to find" and he was right.  

We also initially felt shame and regret.  Shame that somehow, we had raised a son who had become an alcoholic. Regret that we had not been able to help him and that he ultimately died from it. 

Our turning point...  alcoholism is an illness...
However, while Adam was being treated, one of the wonderful Intensive Care Nurses said, “You must understand, Alcoholism is an illness."  His brother said the same.  “This is about mental health.  It is about education.  It is not about blame and shame, but understanding why people do what they do and having in place things that can help them.”   

We had a choice: do we hide this?  Or do we tell people what happened to him and perhaps help others? 

In the end the decision was simple. We had to talk about this.  Not simply for us, but for others.  Perhaps some good could come out of this…?  Somehow….

The charity we have chosen: Hopefully it can make a difference...
We looked for a charity that could benefit from any donations people might want to make.  We soon found “Alcohol Change UK” https://alcoholchange.org.uk/.  The charity’s website, their approach and what they said, struck a chord with us.

On their front page was a picture of two young sisters playing in a beach…  the text next to it said, “and one of them is no longer with us”.... 

The charity also talked about changing the memes of society around alcohol. Please understand I like a drink occasionally.  As his father I enjoy the occasional whisky or a beer when watching a game of Rugby.  However, in wider society, drinking, seems to be institutionalised.  Why do people encourage “Gin o’clock” and “Phew, I must get a glass of wine when I get home each night”?  As the website says, people can easily drink too much without realising it. 

'Alcohol Change' conducts research, they provide advice, they look at the whole person: alcohol use, mental health, and a person’s complex needs.  They run alcohol awareness weeks and campaigns such as Dry January.  They believe serious alcohol harm, as happened to Adam, can be prevented.  I hope so.  You can read more about what they do
on their website.  https://alcoholchange.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/alcohol-awareness-week/the-alcohol-change-report

A tragic loss
For us, his parents and his younger brother Matthew, this is a great and tragic loss.  I am not sure we will ever fully understand what Adam had gone through to get to that point. 

We have been touched by the messages and conversations we have had with his close friends over the few days since his death.  Adam was clearly loved and they tried to help him.  So many of his work colleagues also wanted to remember him and pay tribute to him. 

Perhaps some good can come out of this...
Whilst there are no words in these circumstances, we hope the words on this page encourage you to make, in Adam’s memory, a donation to this charity.  One day you might even point someone you know towards this charity’s help, or some other source of help, to save their life.  Perhaps, just perhaps, it will stop such an early tragic death happening to some other person with bright future ahead of them.

Whatever you do, thank you for even reading this far.

Why are we we doing this... in loving memory..
In loving memory of a son, brother and great bloke, Adam Nicholas Jones, died 7^th November 2020.

From his parents Phil & Deb and his brother Matthew.

With thanks to his close friend Tom for many of the photos of Adam at Warwick University, Judo and with recent friends.

A final word from JustGiving:
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity