FEATURE
Flying for
Finlay
How Colin and Julie Cooper have turned their darkest hour into a children ’ s charity that ’ s become an incredible force for good
WORDS : MICHAEL MCGEARY PICTURES : CHRIS BOOTH
Colin and Julie Cooper ’ s world is filled with dragonflies . The first thing visitors to their Harrogate home notice is its dragonfly door knocker and once inside almost every room contains an ornament or picture depicting the distinctive double wings .
The dragonfly is the emblem of the Finlay Cooper Fund , which has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for children ’ s causes in memory of the couple ’ s two-year-old son since he died in a choking accident 16 years ago .
Former England international footballer Colin was on a high after playing his part in Middlesbrough ’ s 2-0 FA Cup win over Manchester United earlier that day – January 26 2002 – when the family ’ s hopes and dreams were shattered .
“ We were just about to have something to eat when our eldest daughter , Annie , appeared on the stairs saying Fin had put something in his mouth ,” Colin recalls . “ He ’ d already picked up a screw once and she ’ d taken it off him and put it on the desk in their bedroom . As they were watching the DVD he picked it up again , put it in his mouth and swallowed it . I have to be honest , everything else is a blur .”
As Finlay began to gasp for air and change colour before their eyes , Colin and Julie tried slapping him hard on the back and then abdominal thrusts . When nothing worked they rushed to a nearby nursing home to seek assistance .
“ They tried to help him and the paramedics continued to try to keep him breathing as we were taken by ambulance to Harrogate District Hospital ,” continues Colin . “ We hadn ’ t been in there for long when the nurse came through . I thought she ’ d say they ’ d got him breathing and he was all right . But he wasn ’ t . They ’ d tried to open his airway but the screw had lodged itself in . There was no way of releasing it and he ’ d gone .”
“ The day Julie made me go back to Middlesbrough was the start of my healing journey ”
- COLIN COOPER
Finlay ’ s death was a devastating blow for Colin , Julie and daughters Annie , ten , Molly , eight , and five-year-old Daisy . Overwhelmed by unbearable grief , Colin didn ’ t care if he never kicked a ball again .
“ I said that was it , I was finished with football ,” he says . “ I was disappearing into a hole , without any shadow of a doubt .”
But Julie was not prepared to let the tragedy tear her beloved family apart .
“ I was determined we would continue to move forward , and so we took the children back to school a week after we lost Fin . I was aware that the longer they were away , the more difficult it would be to go back into their normal surroundings .
“ It was the same for me going back to the supermarket . We were doing the everyday things we had when we were a normal family . I knew I had to do that to get back on an even keel at some point .”
Julie also knew that Colin had to return to the game he had played since he was growing up in Trimdon , County Durham . Reluctantly , he eventually agreed . But he now says it was the best advice he has ever been given .
“ The day Julie made me go back to Middlesbrough was the start of my healing journey ,” he says . “ The lads and the fans were unbelievable . That became my crutch . I had to get back onto the horse and if I hadn ’ t , I know I would have disappeared down that hole . If it wasn ’ t for this lady , God knows where I ’ d be now . She knew we had to get back to some sense of normality .”
Soon he was back training in the Boro squad and played on for a further four years , appearing in his last game at the age of 39 shortly before Middlesbrough played in the 2006 UEFA Cup final .
That year Colin donated the proceeds from his richly deserved testimonial match to a new charity set up in >>
11