I'm Gary Kelly, a lifelong QPR fan and Pauls Brother-in-Law. I was at the R's game last Saturday when I heard the Fulham match had been delayed by a medical emergency. My wife Dawn (Pauls sister), daughter and 2 Granddaughters were at the Fulham game, together with Paul, his daughter Clare and Granddaughter Felicity.
I messaged them asking what the problem was and was surprised when I was called back telling me that Paul had collapsed, been resuscitated and was being taken to Hospital. I really thought he would be ok. Paul was a 'young '69 year old, fresh faced and fit as a fiddle. No underlining conditions and the last person I ever thought this kind of thing would happen to. I was so shocked when I was later told he never made it after a 2nd Cardiac arrest on way to the Hospital.
As a Family, we are devastated and struggling to come to terms with everything. My heart goes out to his wife Chris, mum Barbara and all of his direct family.
On a personal note, I have known Paul for over 40 years and apart from being my Brother-in-Law, he was a friend. A top bloke who welcomed me into the family.. As you can imagine, we had plenty of football banter, wind ups and commiserations together with our games and we shared the strong family bond that is helping us through this sad and difficult time. The love, thoughts and best wishes being sent by strangers, friends , family and the football community is overwhelming, comforting and appreciated . It won't bring him back, but we can all relate to this loss. If we could chose how we would like to go, this wouldn't be far off it.
On behalf of my fellow QPR fans, family and football supporters everywhere, we will all miss you mate.
Rest in Peace xx
Gary
4th February 2022