Accidental death victim saved two lives with organ donation, inquest told

A MAN found asphyxiated in his home in New Milton saved the lives of two others after his organs were donated.

The family of Alan Johns (44) paid tribute to him at an inquest held at Winchester, telling the coroner: “We are so proud of him. We knew he wanted to be an organ donor. He donated three organs and saved two lives. That means a lot to us.”

At the time of his death Mr Johns had been living at a house in Eastwood Park, New Milton, with his girlfriend of two-and-a-half years Holly Thurman.

On 22nd May this year Ms Thurman said Mr Johns, a carpenter, had come home “stressed” from work. She said: “He was quiet and went into the kitchen and shut the door. I tended to leave him alone when he was like that.”

She said at about 4.30pm a neighbour knocked on her door asking for a charger for her phone. Ms Thurman added: “Alan changed completely, he got really angry. She was clearly drunk.

“He did not know her, but she is well known for drug use and alcohol. Alan’s face was like thunder, I just wanted her to leave.”

Ms Thurman said the woman’s boyfriend was standing at her front door waiting for her, and Mr Johns became convinced the man was a drug dealer.

She said Mr Johns had flown “into a rage” – something that had previously happened only once before.

She said: “He had a problem with the woman being there, he had a big problem with people who used drugs.”

In the past, assistant coroner Sam Marsh heard, Mr Johns had suffered from alcoholism but after undergoing rehab in 2015 he believed he had beaten his drink problem, having been teetotal for several years.

Ms Thurman said Mr Johns told her he “didn’t want drug dealers” coming to their home and she asked the couple to leave.

But she said Mr Johns was still angry, saying: “He was pacing up and down the hall, getting louder and louder.”

She had gone to sit in the living room and said: “Alan then came in with a kitchen knife and asked me to stab him.”

She said she thought Mr Johns had been drinking, saying “how angry he got was out of character”.

Her boyfriend then grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against a wall. She said: “I panicked as it was hard to breathe.”

She said Mr Johns shouted that he was going to kill himself. Ms Thurman said she decided to go to a friend’s home to give him time to calm down.

The mum-of-three said: “I just left, I was in a bit of a state myself. I was hysterical. I didn’t consider that he was being serious at all. I never considered him capable of suicide.”

She said she had been gone for only 10-15 minutes and when she returned she found Mr Johns lying asphyxiated face down at the bottom of the stairs.

Ms Thurman rang emergency services and started CPR. Paramedics took over when they arrived but the inquest heard it took more than 40 minutes to restart his heart.

Mr Johns was taken to hospital where a scan the next day revealed he had no brain activity. After his death a post-mortem examination revealed he was two times the drink-drive limit.

Speaking about her boyfriend, Ms Thurman said: “I love him with all my heart. He had his flaws but he was amazing with my kids and I wanted to grow old with him.”

She said although Mr Johns had always been teetotal when he was with her, she had started to suspect that he had relapsed in recent weeks after finding empty cans of beer in a bin.

She said: “His temper had got a bit shorter. I asked him about it (drinking) but he got a little bit cross so I left it.

“He was looking to change his job, he was travelling quite far away and doing long hours. He would come in and sleep and be a bit grouchy. He would just be a bit snappy, looking to have an argument, really. “

Mr Johns’ sister Carrie Scott told the inquest that she had arranged for Mr Johns to go into rehab after he came to her for help four years before.

She said: “He didn’t go to rehab for drugs, it was only ever alcohol.”

In a statement Mr Johns’ mother Lynn said her son had started abusing alcohol after working away for long periods of time staying in hotels. Describing Mr Johns as “caring and generous” she said that after rehab he had “really got his act together”.

She said he regularly went to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings where he also became a mentor for other members.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, the coroner said of Mr Johns: “It would appear he had not fully recovered from his alcohol issues.

“It was very clear that he had been stressed recently and was unhappy with his job.”

She said that when he threatened suicide to Mrs Thurman she had believed he had “done it in the heat of the moment” and “did not think he was going to do it”. No suicide note was found after his death.

Ms Marsh told Ms Thurman: “He may have been intending to frighten you and was anticipating you returning to the property earlier.” But she reassured Ms Marsh that if she had done she still would have been unable to save Mr Johns.

She added: “I am not satisfied that he intended to end his own life. His was an intended act that had unintended circumstances.”

To register as an organ donor visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.

The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or at www.samaritans.org.