Callum Piper, a 22-year-old father, tragically died following an asthma attack at his home in Stockton, despite emergency services’ desperate efforts to save him
A heartbroken family has told of its shock after a young dad who was looking forward to the birth of his second child died suddenly following an asthma attack.
Callum Piper, from Stockton, County Durham, woke his pregnant partner up on Tuesday evening saying he couldn’t breathe – but despite the best efforts of paramedics they were unable to save him.
The 22-year-old, who was a devoted dad to four-year-old Delilah, was excited to be expecting a son with his partner, Elle Mckie, in just a few months time.
His devastated family, including his mum, Michelle Scott, and his siblings, Bradley, who turns 21 on Saturday, and ten-year-old twins, Olly and Olivia, are now struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss just before Christmas.
Callum’s aunt, Kelly Dallow, said Callum had suffered from asthma for a number of years and had been hospitalised with it in the past, but this attack was sudden.
“He was a landscape gardener and had been to work all day,” Kelly explained. “He was in bed with Elle and she woke up to him having an asthma attack.” Kelly said while they were waiting for paramedics to arrive Callum, a former Bishopsgarth School pupil, started having a fit. She said her nephew couldn’t breathe and he became starved of oxygen, reports Teesside Live.
She said: “We just can’t believe it has happened, it was so sudden. At around 10pm he was saying he was having an asthma attack and by 11.23pm he had passed away. He was just 22, he was just a baby himself. I don’t think we are processing that it has happened. He was such a gorgeous, gorgeous lad, it is so tragic.”
Kelly said a post mortem examination has been carried out and further test results are expected soon. An inquest into the Hardwick man’s death will be held in due course. Julie Scott, also a aunt of Callum, said he and Elle had only recently had a gender reveal party to find out they were expecting a little boy and now a distraught Elle has decided to name the youngster Callum after his dad.
She said: “None of us can process this, we just can’t think straight. My sister (Callum’s mum) is inconsolable.” Family and friends are holding a balloon release in memory of Callum on Friday at the Blue Bridge in Stockton at 4pm. A fundraising page has been set up to help with the costs of the funeral which will take place on Friday, January 10 at 3pm at Stockton Crematorium.