02 October 2023 , 14:03
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The family of a "happy-go-lucky chappy" have been left desperate for answers after he mysteriously died on holiday in Vietnam.
Darren Blair's family were told he had been found unresponsive after being asleep in a nightclub for six hours on September 26. But the family were also later told the 31-year-old was found unconscious outside the nightclub and his death certificate said he had bruises on his face.
Mr Blair's mother Margaret Mills, 65, said: "He had a tour guide and the tour guide took him to get a drink and then apparently at 8.30 he said to Darren 'you must go back to the hotel and get yourself washed up, you're tired'.
Darren with his tour guide in Vietnam before his death (PA)"Then we heard a story that Darren had gone back out to meet somebody, a young girl or whatever. There have been different stories going around. We don't know what to believe. We got another story saying he had been laying in the bar for six hours sleeping. The police told me they found him outside the bar and he was unconscious. It was two people that found him. They phoned the emergency services and that's when they picked Darren up."
Mr Blair was taken to the Viet Duc Hospital and he was pronounced dead on arrival, his mother added. He had been on holiday before starting work on a production of Disney on Ice in Vietnam.
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Ms Mills said: "He was the best son you could ever ask for. He was so loving. Nothing was too big for him. He was brilliant with everybody. He was a happy-go-lucky chappy. He was full of beans and laughter. He was fun. He was a good son I could not have asked for any more. He liked his sightseeing. He visited so many countries it's unbelievable. We counted before he went (that) he had been to 44 countries. He had been all over. He loved what he was doing. He has lived his dream but that has been uncompleted."He was going to settle down and have kids. He spoke about things like that. He was looking forward to his future."
Mr Blair had sent a photo of himself at a bar with his tour guide to his family just hours before his death.
His niece Jordan Gooderham, 19, said Mr Blair had been found "covered in bruises and has swelling on his face". She said: "We literally know nothing... All we know is that they have been covering something because we have been told four different stories. One of the stories was he was asleep for six hours on the sofa in a nightclub and that he was asleep and they kept checking on him and he was snoring.
"Then they checked on him again at 5 o'clock in the morning and he wasn't breathing. They said he was in the club, dead, and then they said they found him unconscious outside the nightclub on his own. None of it is adding up. It's like a suspicious murder. Something is not right."
Mr Blair's brother and sister are on their way to Vietnam to try and find out what happened to him. A GoFundMe page has also raised over £22,000 to bring his body back to his family in Nottingham. A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed: "We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Vietnam and are in touch with the local authorities."