“Did he know he was going to die? Was he suffering? How long did it take? All those things just torture you forever, knowing you couldn’t do anything to save your child.”
These are the heart-wrenching words of a Mansfield student’s mother whose son was stabbed to death while he was travelling through the Netherlands.
Twenty-two-year-old Danny Castledine was on his way to a music festival in Belgium with a friend when they decided to stop off in Amsterdam for the day.
He would tragically never make it to the event however, after being attacked at random by a man in the street who proceeded to stab him 44 times before dumping his body down some steps.
Nearly two years have now passed since Danny lost his life on 1 June 2022, but for his devastated family, the “immeasurable” pain caused by his loss has only intensified.
“What people don’t realise is our lives have gone as well – we’ve got nothing left”, said mum Alison.
“To know your child died like that is something you can’t ever erase from your mind. We saw Danny in his coffin after he came home, and that picture will stay with me forever.
“We saw every wound on his body, on his face, on his neck, on his hands, where he’d tried to fight for freedom. That will never ever leave me – just thinking what his last minutes were like.
“The impact is immeasurable and you just cannot put into words what it’s like. Your happiest times turn into your worst times.
“You dread birthdays, Christmases, holidays, as they’re all too painful, and the longer it goes on, it gets harder because you realise you’re never going to see him again.”
