Keyron Curtis should be experiencing the joys of being a new dad, the delight that his beautiful daughter looks like him, that she loves her food and has the same gentle temperament he had as a child. But the 21-year-old never got to experience those joys, as two weeks before the birth, he was killed on a night out.
Killed by a single punch, in an unprovoked attack.
Keyron, who didn't often go for big nights out, had been about to get a car outside the Colliers Arms in Aberdare, when a drunk thug punched him once, knocking the soon-to-be dad to the ground. Keyron knocked his head off the pavement, and suffered a "catastrophic head injury". He died in hospital four days later, with his loved family by his side.
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His attacker, Daniel Howells-Thomas, ran away from the scene and initially denied punching Keyron when arrested by police. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault by beating of Mr Curtis' friend Jordan Stokes. He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment during a sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.
For his family, their lives have been completely turned upside down. During the court hearing, Keyron's father Scott Curtis tearfully spoke of the devastation of his son's death and his pain at Keyron not being able to meet his baby daughter. Read his powerful statement here. His parents have not been able to change his bedroom, and they often go in to listen to their son's favourite music to feel close to him.
And Keyron's sisters Dawn and Jade have teamed up with South Wales Police as part of a campaign to warn others about how a single punch can devastate lives. They have taken part in a video and have talked openly about how their baby brother's death has affected so many.
Jade said: "He was a dad to be. His daughter was born two weeks after he was killed, so he never got a chance to meet his daughter which is hard and just doesn't make sense, does it? It doesn't make sense he didn't have a chance to be a dad and Keyron would have been an amazing dad.
"He had the patience of a saint, bless him. We were really close, there was always the three of us together and we did everything together. We walked to school and he was the baby. I think my parents wanted a boy for so long and when he came he was a little gem."
Dawn agrees: "We couldn't have asked for a better brother. He never complained. His daughter was born two weeks after he died and we can 100% see Keyron in her. She is so content, like he was as a baby and she doesn't really cry. She is the one who has given us hope."
It was 2.30am on October 17, 2021, when Jade's mum phoned her screaming.
"She was just screaming down the phone, Keyron is dead, Keyron is dead," remembers Jade, who is a nurse. "She said he was up Penywaun and that my dad was up there and she asked me to go and pick her up.
"I didn't pick her up because I didn't know what we were going to see, so I went straight up to Penywaun and there were about 50 people there. I couldn't find my dad, I kept asking where my dad was.
"I just remember turning right and Keyron was lying on the floor and he was being resuscitated. I'm a nurse and I went and sat by the paramedics by Keyron, and I was asking them what was going on and what his oxygen saturation levels and heart rate were and they said to me that they hadn't had anything for 20 minutes, and he was just lying there.
"He was so grey and I think I just knew then that our lives would never ever be the same again. My Dad, his face. He was so scared, he was petrified." The paramedics at the scene managed to get Keyron back and stabilise him, and and he was taken straight to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
"My parents were so full of hope in the car," says Jade. "I just couldn't say anything, but I knew we were going down to bad news. When we saw him in the hospital he was in ITU and he just looked so perfect he didn't have a mark on him. He just looked like he was sleeping and they came and told us then. They just said he was gone and that the ventilator was doing everything for him."
The family still didn't know the full details of what had happened outside the club, but knew that it was being reported all over social media. They had three more days with Keyron because they had decided to go for organ donation.
Jade says: "We stayed down the hospital with him and spoke to him and said our goodbyes. I remember saying in my statement in court he didn't deserve to die on a cold October night. He didn't go out much. He preferred to stay in his room and play video games. He did nothing wrong, he was just getting in a car to go home.
"You don't expect it to happen to your family and I think that is the hardest part. I don't think we have even started to grieve yet. We are still in shock. It just all feels tainted. At the minute it is really hard. He is not here and that is the hard part. He was 21, he was a baby.
"We're all completely different, my parents are heartbroken but we want Keyron to be remembered. He was a really good boy, he was the best boy. My mum doesn't like to leave the house and the only place my dad goes is to the memorial bench."
Dawn said: "My dad talks as if he is still alive, and I can see how that helps. I am so proud of my parents, we are all holding onto Keyron's love as his love is so, so pure. As the saying goes, if love could of saved you then you still be here today!
"Our love for Keyron is keeping us going. And thank you so much to all the police for assisting us and getting us through such a hard time. We just want to make sure everyone hears his story. We want people to know that one punch does kill, that slogan is true. You don't expect it to happen to your family. You don't think that you would be the person who would do it, but it just takes one punch and there is a knock on effect on so many people. The person who had died, their family, their friends, their jobs. Everything changes."
Dawn added: "We haven't fully watched the whole of this video as we find it too hard., but we wouldn't wish this on anyone. We want people to see this and understand how serious one punch can affect people and change their lives.
"Before it happened to my brother I would often hear about people drunk fighting in town... And now I think to myself if only you knew what we have been through. Picking up your arm and throwing it at someone is a weapon.. people need to realise that one punch does kill. And if you do kill someone then you will have to live with that for the rest of your life.. and trust me it doesn't kill just that one person.
"It takes away a big piece of all the people they are loved by too. I just really hope this video will stick in someone's minds if they are ever about to throw a punch."
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