He said 'I'll be fine, don't worry about me, mum'
CALL it a mother’s instinct, but it was a moment Yvonne Upton would never forget.
It was just a nurse at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital talking to a police officer, but it was the only sign she needed that her youngest son was about to lose his fight for life.
Earlier that fateful morning — June 6, 2010 — Connor Upton, of Lincoln Road, Stapenhill, had been stabbed in the chest outside Merlin’s nightclub, in Station Street, Burton.
The tragic events are etched in Mrs Upton’s memory, refusing to fade with time.
With heart-rending honesty, the 49- year-old, who has three other children and is a grandmother of nine, told the Mail one of the last conversations she had with her son was about a family party held on the night he died.
“Connor didn’t come to the party but that was one of the last things we spoke about,” she said. “Next thing I know I get a call from my youngest daughter at 3.30am saying he’s been stabbed.”
Mrs Upton’s elder son, Shane, turned up minutes after the call and shouted for her to get into his car.
Gripped by panic and confusion, Mrs Upton left the house wearing only her pyjama bottoms and a top, forgetting her shoes and socks.
“We got to Burton’s Queen’s Hospital and there he was, my baby, in the resuscitation room rigged up to loads of machines with dozens of doctors working on him,” she said.
“One thing that sticks out was seeing a small plaster on his chest where he’d been stabbed.
“He was still awake and talking. He kept saying ‘I’ll be fine — don’t worry about me, mum’.”
Doctors said Connor was in a critical condition and would have to be transferred to Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital.
“They were explaining he could be in intensive care for some time and I was having all sorts of information thrown at me from all angles — but I couldn’t take any of it in,” Mrs Upton said.
“I went in to say goodbye before he was transferred.
“I kissed him on the forehead and said ‘ta-ra, I’ll be back in a minute. I love you.’ “I can remember his head felt like jelly and quite clammy. It didn’t feel right.
“He held (his brother) Shane’s hand and said ‘It’s hurting me. I just want to go to sleep.’ I think he knew he was dying.”
After being contacted by Connor’s family his partner, Leanne, got to the hospital around an hour before he died.
Mrs Upton added: “He told Leanne, his partner, that he loved her and to give their girls a kiss from their daddy.
“Leanne was the love of his life — it was like he was holding on to say bye to her.
“We had to leave the room while doctors sedated him for the transfer.
“Me and Shane went outside to wait and a nurse came out and whispered something to a police officer.
“I don’t know what it was, but right from that second I somehow knew Connor had gone.”
