THE mum of a popular young man who died in Barnsley town centre has appealed for the person who tried to give him lifesaving CPR to come forward.
Flowers, cards and messages have covered a bench in the Courthouse car park where Josh Reynolds, 27, was found early on Monday.
Josh, a scaffolder, had been working seven days straight before heading out with friends into town on Sunday afternoon and his friends and family believed everything was fine.
“He has had issues with drugs in the past, but we thought he’d turned a corner,” his heartbroken mum Lisa Walker told the Chronicle yesterday.
“We don’t know if he’s taken something, the police are investigating.
“Someone tried to help him. They phoned 999 from Josh’s phone and tried to resuscitate him, they gave CPR until the ambulance arrived, but then they disappeared.
“We want them to come forward to try and help find out what happened.”
Hundreds have paid tribute to Josh either online or by writing messages on cards at the bench where he died. Lisa said he was very ‘loving, happy and caring’.
“A light has gone out in the town,” she said.
“I just can’t say what a beautiful son he was.
“He was so funny. Everyone knew him and everyone liked him. I know that’s a cliché to say about someone who’s died, but they did.
“Everyone knew him as Squash it went back to school, just because it sounds like Josh.
“He was a bit of a tearaway. I can’t paint a picture of him as a saint, he wasn’t.
“But he’d do anything for anybody, and he was a really hard worker. Everywhere he worked he was a hard worker and everyone liked him.
“His friends have been a real comfort to us this week.”
Best friend Matthew Clinton had been with Josh in his final hours on Sunday and was equally shocked.
“We’d had a couple of drinks and seen some bands playing,” said Matthew, 27, of Keir Street, Barnsley.
“We’d had a couple of drinks but he was nowhere near drunk. There was no sign of anything being wrong at all. At one pint he’d gone, I rang him and he said he was going home, that was about half 9.
“He really did have a heart of gold. He was like a brother to me. It came as such a shock, I was just in pieces.”
Josh, who had attended Summer Lane Primary and Penistone Grammar School, had been living with his nannan Christine Flintham at Greenfoot Lane when he died.
He also leaves dad Darren Reynolds, mum Lisa, step brother Jordan Walker and half-sister Bobbie Reynolds.
Funeral details have yet to be arranged.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “At around 1.20am (on Monday), police received a call from the ambulance service stating that a 27-year-old man had been found unresponsive on a bench in Regent Street, Barnsley.
“The man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. His death is not being treated as suspicious and police are conducting enquiries on behalf of the coroner.”
Next Saturday the family is arranging for as many of Josh’s friends and relatives as possible to attend Barnsley FC’s match against Gillingham together in his memory, and will observe a minute’s applause on the 27th minute.
On Monday, an open mic night of music in his memory will take place at the Corner Pin in town from 4pm.
A JustGiving appeal has also been set up by friends to help ensure he receives a fitting send-off.
Find the link here.
