A young dad looking forward to receiving a life-changing operation after suffering with heart problems since childhood tragically died on the table - leaving his family devastated.
Mitchell Powell set off for Bristol Heart Institute with a convoy of his nearest and dearest including mum Caroline, dad David, sister Kirsty and fiancée Danielle for a long-awaited double heart valve replacement surgery.
Having suffered a serious decline in his health, the 26-year-old, from Swansea, was excited to get the surgery so he could return home to fiancée Danielle and daughter Lylah and begin his recovery.
On the way to the hospital, he was in such high spirits that he said to his sister how the trip to Bristol felt more like the journey to the airport before a holiday, as opposed to travelling for a major operation, Wales Online reports.
He even tweeted a picture of himself outside the entrance, proudly wearing his Swansea City Football Club face mask, telling people 'the day had arrived', and 'LET'S GO'.
The Waun Wen, Swansea resident was born with a heart condition which meant he underwent 20 heart operations.
It left him reliant on a pacemaker and he was told from an early age he would need a full heart transplant in early adulthood.
Recalling the day of his operation, his sister, Kirsty Davies Powell said: "We were all so excited for him to go in because he was declining so rapidly leading up to his operation.
"My mother was ringing every week asking, 'Is he on the list? Is he coming in?' because they could see he was declining, and fast.
So when the phone call came, we were all so chuffed and he was so excited to have his old life back, because he became so bad he couldn't look after his daughter.
"We all went up to Bristol, but because of Covid we all had to go up in separate cars. He was texting me saying that he felt like he was on his way to Bristol Airport rather than Bristol hospital because he was that excited - the feeling you'd get like you were going on holiday.
"When we got there, Mitchell just jumped out of the car and went straight in there - he skipped in there without a worry in the world - which shows how excited he was.
He stood outside, and he asked us to take his photo with his Swans mask, but he didn't want to hang around talking. We were told that he would be out on the same day."
Tragically, the day was to turn into one that none of the Powell family had anticipated. Whilst undergoing the procedure inside the hospital, Mitchell's heart was not strong enough and he went into cardiac arrest and sadly died.
"It came as a massive, massive shock. We haven't accepted what happened and I don't think we ever will," Mrs Davies Powell said.
"When he went in to have his pacemaker changed in August, it was still Covid and nobody was allowed into the hospital with him, so we as a family dropped him off at Bristol hospital and went back home to Swansea because he was in for 48 hours.
We were waiting and waiting for a phone call from the nurse to say he was alright, but we didn't hear anything. For hours and hours we couldn't get hold of the hospital and were all so panicked, so we jumped in the car and drove up to Bristol, thinking something had happened.
"Thankfully, someone on that occasion had forgotten to ring us and tell us that he was fine. Because of that experience, we all decided to stay in a hotel in Bristol when Mitchell went for his double heart valve replacement surgery."
"We went to the hotel, we put a film on, my father had a newspaper, and it was really short, within an hour Danielle received a phone call asking her to come up because there had been a complication. They asked for all of us to go up, so myself, Danielle and my parents went to the hospital."
"We all thought that we'd be told they were not able to do surgery through the planned keyhole method so they would have to open him up. Never in a million years did we think when we went in that we would be told he suffered a cardiac arrest."
"That was at 11.30am in the morning, and they fought and fought and fought all day for Mitchell, but it just wasn't enough, he wasn't strong enough."
"My other brother, David, was away working in Portsmouth. Because it was an in and out operation, we didn't think there would be any need for all of us to be up there. We had to ring him and tell him that Mitchell was struggling and that he should make his way up."
"He made his way up, my sister-in-law made her way up from Swansea, Danielle's parents made their way up. We were all in a waiting room for hours and hours and hours and they had tried their absolute best for him, but it wasn't enough, there was nothing they could do."
"Just before midnight he passed away. We had that dreaded drive afterwards back home to Swansea, which was just horrific. It felt like seven hours, not two."
"There's just no words. Everybody asks from the beginning, 'how are you, how are you', but there's just no feeling. I know when you hear other people's stories and you think they must be heartbroken, but you really don't realise what it's like. My heart will never be the same again, it will always ache for Mitchell. You could feel your heart hurting, it was a terrible, terrible pain, I've never felt anything like it."
The news of Mitchell's death sent Swansea into mourning. He was regarded as a very special person to many, and never forgot about the help he had received throughout his life, dedicating himself to raising as much money as he could to support the British Heart Foundation, once being named the charity's fundraiser of the year.
He was passionate about football, and was an avid Swansea City fan who would attend every home game with his dad at the Liberty Stadium, and also travel to the away games too, even the likes of Valencia when the club recorded a historic 3-0 win against the Spanish side at the Mestalla in the Europa League.
At a local level, he was also an integral part of Maltsters Sports AFC, performing the role of secretary of the adult side, and was a key component to starting its successful junior ranks.
An inquest was held into Mitchell's death in Bristol last month, which his family say concluded that he had died as a result of his health condition, with added complications leading up to his operation.
Describing how the last year has been for her entire family, Mitchell's sister said: "It's been rough - it has been really difficult - it's crazy to think it's even been a year.
"Our family personally have had a rough ride. Mitchell passed away, and then my mother's two brothers both caught Covid and they both passed away.
"We've had the dreaded first of everything - his birthday, his daughter's birthday, Father's Day, Christmas, New Year, then the inquest. The last one to get over now is the anniversary of him passing away. I think that's going to be the hardest.
"It's been a long road and we're all in it together and support each other. Lylah is Mitchell's two eyes. She's so funny like Mitchell was. She still talks about him, she looks at the photos and says: 'That's my daddy'."
"We're glad she's here. It is all we've got left of Mitchell and she means so much to us all. We used to joke all the time that I was Mitchell's second mother. There was an age gap between us, he was my little best friend. We bought season tickets together to go and watch the Swans."
"He wasn't just my brother, he was my friend. The same with David, we were all so close the three of us. There was never a crossed word with any of us."
The most visible sign of the widespread enormous respect for Mitchell followed after his funeral service as the procession drove past the Liberty Stadium on its way to Llanelli Crematorium. Emotional scenes played out as hundreds lined both sides of the dual carriageway applauding as the procession went by, letting off black and white balloons and waving Swans flags.
"Although he's my brother and he's wonderful to me anyway, it's not until he passed away that you sit back and realise, oh my God, what a wonderful person he really was - not just in my eyes but everyone in Swansea," Mrs Davies Powell said.
"The whole of Swansea has been magnificent and still are. It felt like he was a celebrity. I still remember the feeling I had on the day of his funeral. When we got out of the hearse and walked behind him outside the Liberty Stadium - I have got shivers now thinking of it - you just thought, this is for my brother, it was incredible."
"For people to think the same as what we did, how wonderful he was, it helped. It felt like a karma turnaround of what he gave out to charity all his life - it turned back around and he had it returned."
As well as the showing of support on the day of his funeral, many showed their support in a number of different ways. A fundraising page set up to raise funds for Mitchell's family raised more than £20,000. And there was another big donation from one of his favourite former Swansea City players.
"Everyone was so generous to us as a family. The main one that stood out for us was the Oli McBurnie gesture," Mrs Davies Powell said.
"He got in touch with us and wanted to pay for Mitchell's funeral, and within an hour he transferred the money over. It wasn't even about the money, it was because Mitchell loved Oli McBurnie so much and really thought the world of him. To know he did that, Mitchell would have been beaming. It meant so much to us.
"The Swans have been an incredible support - even when it came down to the little details of Steve Cooper (former manager), mentioning Mitchell's name in his interview. Lee Trundle is a big help. He messages frequently asking how we all are and if we can help. Me and my brother David did a fundraiser over there walking 75 laps around the stadium, and they were handing us out drinks, food, anything. They were so helpful.
"I've paid for Mitchell's season ticket for two years, and I'll always pay for his season ticket. He had that seat since the Liberty opened."
Inspired to keep his legacy going, Mitchell's family will launch a charity in his name in April. Called the Mitchell Powell Foundation, it will aim to help support, emotionally and financially, families who are either going through bereavement or with life changing or long term illnesses.
"It is something that is helping massively for myself and my mother," Mrs Davies Powell said.
"Because Mitchell helped charity practically all his life, we just wanted to carry it on for him and carry his legacy on. It has been a lot of work behind closed doors but it has really helped us remain focused. It's a positive out of a negative.
"Our aim isn't to financially support anyone by giving cash donations, it is instead about financial gestures and giving help for anybody who is going through a tough time like a long term illness.
"We are looking to put on counselling sessions for immediate families of those who have passed away. From being through it ourselves, you don't realise how much effect is has on many different members of the family.
We also want to help those with long term illness to help them with things like travel costs. We have got lots of policies in place and have an aim of what we want the charity to be.
"One of our main aims for this Christmas is to fulfil one of Mitchell's own goals, and that's to go up to Bristol children's hospital ward and give out presents to the children staying in over Christmas. We want to do that and say, 'There you are, that's from Mitchell Powell'."
