David Weaver: Diary of hope and heartbreak

Apr 12 2010 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail

IT is a book filled with hope – and heartbreak.

The pages of the green-covered book chart David Weaver’s five-month battle for life after he was brutally attacked trying to break up a fight.

Carole Mina-Gurgis, 48, said she hoped to be able record improvements in her brother’s condition.

Instead, the book reveals a family’s torment and despair as the tiniest of changes, a blink of the eye, a squeeze of the hand or a mouthed word, failed to turn into a long-term progress.

It even included his last words.

When asked what he most wanted, he managed to scrawl: “Get better.”

Among the heartbreaking entries was one that read: “Really good day. The best I think so far.”

But a day later, the entry said: “What a difference, Dave not responding at all.”

An entry dated Saturday, April 11 2009, included: “Dave had eyes open when I got here but I don’t think he even knows who I am any more. He looks sad and I can’t cope with this. Very heartbreaking.”

Days before his death, an entry said: “Too heartbroken for any of us to write any more.”

And the entry on the day he died read: “It was awful. After 5 months of Dave fighting to live he finally surrendered.”

Carole said: “It shows from one day to the next how it affected us all.

“We are still asking ‘Why Dave?’ We can’t understand who would hurt him. He was a decent, normal bloke, he didn’t deserve this.”