It was around 1.30am of Saturday 26th of May 2001 When I was woken by the sound of the front door bellI opened the door to find two policemen standing there and they asked me if I was the father of Christopher and Philip Donovan?. They then asked if they could come inside to talk to my wife Violet and myself. I got Violet out of bed,

And they sat us down, in the living room and told us that Christopher was involved in a fight and a car had run over him. They then said they had a car waiting to take us to Epsom hospital.

After a top-speed car drive we arrived at the hospital to find Richard, Christopher's friend, who was with Chris at the time of the indecent, sitting on the pavement crying his eyes out. Philip came running to us, hoping that now Mum and Dad was on the scene, everything was going to be alright.

A policeman came out and told us he had a private room for us to wait in, and he was sorry Chris had been rushed into an emergency room. We were then shown into the private room where we waited for some news.

What seemed like hours, a doctor came and told us how grave the injures to Chris were. All the time we were praying to our father in heaven to heal Chris and keep him safe. As time went on Gill Cammack, a friend of the family, came to the hospital to offer her support and help.

I went out to pray alone and I said to Jesus no matter what happens I won’t stop praising you. It was around two hours later four doctors came into the room to give us the bad news that every parent dreads; they said they are so sorry, they did all they could do but Chris had passed away.

On hearing this news as you can image we just broken down. A short while after hearing the news the hospital chaplain came and talked to us. After praying together he took us to the emergency room to see Chris. I will never forget seeing him lying on the emergency table. His handsome face was black and blue and there was still some dry blood on him, also the tube that was used to help keep him alive was still in his mouth.

We both prayed and thanked God that Chris was saved and that he made a commitment to JESUS CHRIST.

We both know that he was now in the arms of our father in heaven. All I can remember after that was breaking down and crying in the arms of a policeman. He looked at me and said no matter how long it takes we will get who ever did this. Then with the help of the police, I had the hardest job any father could have that was telling his family their brother was dead.

My family would like to thank everyone for all their help and prayers in our time of sorrow. I will never blame GOD for what has happened to Chris. I will forever thank him for the privilege of knowing my son Chris for the nineteen years of his life and the joy he gave myself and my family. I also thank GOD for JESUS for without him my Chris would be lost forever and there would be no hope of everlasting life, to GOD be the glory. .

We later found out what happened that night.

Philip was working till midnight and Christopher and a friend Richard went to meet him from work

they were then going to a friend house to get a lift home, as they were walking down the road they were singing some songs when two youths stopped them and said they have got the words wrong, and they talked for a while and they all went their own ways, On the way to the friends house there is a hill and little did they know but coming up from the other side were a gang of about fourteen boys and girls.

As they got nearer to the gang the opened up to let them through but as Philip went through one of the gang punched him in the face for no reason and broke his nose, Philip just blacked out with the pain and fell to the floor. And as he laid there two of the boys started to kick him in the head and body.

Christopher went to help his brother but the two lads started to back him into the main road, Now this road is a four lane by pass.and the maximum speed limit is forty miles an hour. As Christopher was ben backed into the road another member of the gang got behind him and pulled him to the floor and in a mad frenzy attack they started to kick and stamp on his head and body. They then started running and one of the girls went to help Christopher out of the road the eldest of the gang said "leave him there" and they ran off.

By now Philip was starting to come around then the next thing he saw was a car coming over the hill and missing Christopher. then another car followed and she said later in court she thought it was a bundle of old clothes in the road. and before she had time to think she ran over Chris and dragged him forty feet down the road, you see Christophers belt got caught in the cars exhausts pipe. The next thing Philip saw was his brother under a car wheel.

We just couldn't believe what we were hearing how could anyone do this to another human. Because it was a bank holiday weekend we had to wait till Tuesday to see the coroner, Tuesday came and we were in the coroners office she seem to take hours talking about Christophers injuries in the end I ask her if we can just see Christopher

She took us to the chaple of rest and Christopher was laying there like he was asleep his face was banaged up on the left side so bad was the kicking to his face, We prayed over him and then went into the waiting room,

our daughter and her family went into the chaple of rest to see her bother and while we were sitting in the corridor the coroner came up to me and she said "Mr Donovan I have bad news for you" I said " what could be worse than seeing my son dead"?. she then said" because Christopher was kicked and then ran over by a car they would have to find out what killed him and the only way they can do that is to remove his brain and this will take sixteen weeks, so I am sorry to say you won't be able to bury him till all the test are done
I turned to her and said "That is not my son in there, He is in heaven you see when Christopher was fifteen he gave his life to Jesus and we have the hope of seeing him again" It was a long sixteen weeks and the test proved that the kicking killed him and not the car.Now because of the time scale we were advised not to have an open coffing so in a way we never got to say goodbye to Christopher

Christopher was laid to rest 21st September 2001

-----------------------------------

THIS LETTER WAS SENT TO US FROM A NURSE THAT WAS WITH CHRISTOPHER ON THE NIGHT HE DIED.
Dear Ray and Vi Having spoken to the nurse I have obtained her testimony. A nurse's testimony. . .

On the death of Christopher. Psalm39.4 (NLT) "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.

Remind me that my days are numbered, and my life is fleeing away."

It was a crisp, misty early hours of the morning, quite cold,as I hurriedly made my way to work
Answering a trauma call of an RTA (road traffic accident) involving a young person.
I assisted the surgeons operating on Christopher that morning.
At first, because we did not know his identity and the whole story of the incident, The thoughts that came to mind was: another rebel, drunk, drugs induced, etc. . (as experienced in the past).

So, I took it for granted that it was the case. However, as different thoughts flooded my mind,

I was reminded straightaway, in such a forceful way not to be judgmental There was a strong feeling in my spirit to pray, and the question

" Is he a Christian and saved?"came so strongly. So, I prayed instantly, "Lord, save him, he is your son!".
We fought hard to save his life but failed, and when we transferred Christopher's body in the recovery area and were left alone, The strong feeling in my spirit to pray prevailed. In the quietness of the room,

I stood alone and prayed and commit his soul to God. There was a certain brightness in the room and I felt the presence of God and angels that moment. I looked at Christopher's face and I could still vividly remember even now how it shone and the presence of peace. . .

I have not done this nor experience this with other patients before.
That Sunday, I went to church, and amazingly my question of whether Christopher was a Christian and saved was answered, when my Vicar asked the congregation to pray and told us the story of Christopher and how he became a Christian.

In my heart I was praising God. He is amazing and His love for us could be experienced if we open our heart to Him.

John 21.24 "This is the disciple who testifies to those things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true." (NIV) Christopher's death will continue to give glory to God!