£10,000 for Sheffield hospital whose staff 'did all they could' to save Doncaster man's life

A Doncaster family has raised £10,000 for a Sheffield hospital in the name of their son whose life was taken too soon.

The Januszkiewicz family will hand over the incredible amount to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital's neurological unit in the coming months, and they want to meet the nurses who will benefit from the donation.

They looked after Darron Januszkiewicz in the final few days of his life.

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Darron died after a one-punch attack outside the White Hart Pub on High Street, Askern, in 2016. He was just 35 years old.

The family had an £8,000 target for the fundraiser, but easily passed that figure.

The total now stands at £10,315.80, after a fundraiser last month at Askern Welfare Club.

Darron's father, Michael, was thrilled his family, and the Doncaster community, had raised so much.

"It's mixed emotions for us," he said.

"We're really pleased we've done what we've done."

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Mr Januszkiewicz hoped to be able to meet the staff at the hospital to personally thank them and hand over the cheque.

"The hospital did so much for us," he said.

"The nurses couldn't have done any more than what they did."

The plan, he said, had been to raise enough money to buy equipment like a reclining chair for the hospital, but it 'grew and grew'.

Ellen Peel, Darron's aunt, paid tribute to the community for its generosity in helping the family achieve such an incredible target.

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"We're really pleased with what everybody has done for us," Mrs Peel said.

"The community has been absolutely fantastic."

She also thanked her workplace, Tunstall Healthcare, for helping to raise money.

"Everybody's workplaces have been amazing," she said, referring to family members' employers.

Mr Januszkiewicz can talk about his son now, but still gets emotional at times.

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"There are still things that trigger me getting upset," he said.

His son was a well-known member of the sporting community.

A football tournament was part of the fundraising campaign.

The family has a bike ride still to complete, but Mr Januszkiewicz said a date hadn't been set for that.

In November 2016, Askern man James Harvey was sentenced to 40 months' prison over the incident which caused Mr Januszkiewicz's death.