After Leicester City goalkeeper Kirstie Levell’s older brother died five years ago, there was only one number she wanted on her shirt.
Levell, who wears the “special” number 28, joined Leicester in the summer and wanted something to “remind her of Dan every single time she put it on”.
Dan, 24, had a sudden heart attack at the family home on 28 September, 2015 – a year after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He was born with epilepsy which left him unable to speak and their father, Shaun, quit his job to become a full-time carer.
“The 28th is my mum’s birthday and I found that really mad,” Levell says. “Dan had this terminal illness for such a long time and it was like he waited for her birthday to come round before saying, ‘right, that’s it now’.
Last month, the Levells marked five years since Dan’s passing, letting off a red heart balloon – something they do every year on his birthday in June and on 28 September.
“One time I let it go and it got stuck in a tree and my dad wasn’t very happy,” says Levell. “We say that goes to heaven. We believe in all that and hopefully it reaches him.” (BBC)