Christian developed epilepsy in 2008, at the age of 36. It came seemingly out of nowhere. No one in his family had ever suffered from anything like it. The seizures were shocking and the diagnosis felt like a prison sentence to him at the time. But his typically upbeat nature and good humour reasserted themselves and Christian learned gradually to accept and live with his condition. A year later, he ran the Royal Parks half marathon in London together with two of his close friends, Ian and Tony, and their little team  - the wildly inappropriately named “Shake and Bake” – raised several hundred pounds for Epilepsy Action.

 

Christian’s charisma, wicked sense of humour and startling intelligence won him friends literally around the world. Those close to him knew about the epilepsy, but he refused to let it define his life. He was a loving and engaged father to his children, Finn, the talented little footballer, just like his dad, and Lily, whose feisty sparkle is exactly like Christian’s.

 

On a business trip to New York two weeks ago, he complained of the warning signs of a seizure coming along on a brief call to Amanda, Finn and Lily’s mum, who he rang to get word of the children across the ocean. He went to the office, gave a brief good morning to his colleagues and then sought refuge in a little-visited corner of the building to avoid a seizure in full view of others. It seems something electrical misfired, either caused by a seizure or not, but it prompted his heart to stop. He was found about 20 minutes later by a colleague, who sounded the alarm. Three of his workmates bravely tried to revive him, as did the ambulance crew who eventually got his heart started again. But the damage his brain sustained from the cardiac arrest was simply to great for him to recover and about 48 hours later, surrounded by many good friends, as well as Amanda, his mother Maria and his middle brother Markus, Christian said goodbye.

 

Christian would have loathed the attention on him at his funeral and he would have grumbled even more loudly about anyone sending flowers. He was like that, rather opinionated. But he would have been glad to think that anyone wanted to make a donation to a charity that he supported, that had been of such great help to him when he was first diagnosed and so on his behalf, we, his family and friends, thank you for your generosity and kindness.