A popular dad of two tragically died just days after getting a sore throat, as his heartbroken family revealed they’ve been left in shock by his unexpected death.
Jay Dignam, from Blackley, died aged 50 after developing the symptoms on November 3. Jay’s family say he had no prior health problems and said his death was “so sudden”.
He leaves behind two daughters, Milly, 18 and Scarlet, 10. Jay’s younger sister Emma Dunn, 34, told Manchester Evening News the cause of death is under investigation and remains unknown.
Emma said her older brother called her with the awful news. “It was a sore throat, nothing else,” she told the outlet.
“It’s such a shock. It didn’t register and I don’t think it fully has. We went to see him in the chapel of rest and it felt more real then.
“It’s been so sudden and a sore throat is so insignificant. If he had gone out on his bike and had a crash… it’s been hard to accept.
“I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in yet. The funeral is next week, so maybe it will after that when I don’t have everything to arrange and think about,” she said, adding: “He was my biggest brother; it was like having another dad.”
Emma also had the hearbreaking responsibility of informing her brother’s daughters of his death, calling it, “one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do”.
“I had to tell his closest friends,” she continued. “He had friends all over; everyone knew him because he was a biker and fixed motorbikes.
“It’s hit the 18-year-old hard; she was very close to her dad. We’re just trying to be there for them, really.”
Jay grew up in Blackley, a county five miles north of Manchester city centre but lived in Bury, a market town further north at the time of his passing.
Emma said “so many people” keep approaching the family since news of his death emerged, adding it “just shows how many people loved and respected him”.
“Bikes were his life; that’s what everyone knew him for,” she added. “He could fix anything with wheels – cars, bikes. He was really handy around the house.
Emma says she still keeps expecting Jay, who was devoted to his daughters, to “ring me and ask for a lift”. “We expect him to still ring,” Emma told the outlet. “He was always really happy and was fun with the girls. He always wanted to do fun stuff.
“He liked to be out; he didn’t like being in one place. He was an outdoors person and his girls were everything to him.”
A GoFundMe has been set by one of Jay’s friends, who hopes to “raise as much money as I can to give to his two daughters, to help support them through this truly heartbreaking time”.
The page has already raised £1,685 of its £2,000 target as of Saturday night.
