First published in The Times, April 18, 1989

A father and son who went to Sheffield for a special treat and a young couple who exchanged their seats in a stand for a place on the terraces were among the 94 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy named by South Yorkshire police last night.

Mrs Linda Howard, of Runcorn, Lancashire, described how she had trembled with fear when she saw television pictures of the crush unfolding. At the moment that her husband, Thomas, aged 39, and her son, also named Thomas, aged 14, died ``I felt the breath go out of them''.

The only comfort she could draw from the tragedy was that her son's face showed he died ``as if he had just gone to sleep and passed away'' and her husband with his palms pushed upwards as though he was trying to shove his son above the trampling.

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``That's the sort of thing he would do putting his son before himself. My husband's face was all bruised. There was no mark on Tommy except for a graze on his forehead. People keep telling me it would have been like going to sleep. That's the only thing that's keeping me going. When I saw him there was no look of horror on his face; no distress. It looked as though he didn't realize. He was just crushed, and went without knowing what was going on around him. That helps me.''

Miss Tracy Box, aged 22, and Mr Rick Jones, aged 25, from Crookes, Sheffield, were overjoyed when they managed to buy two tickets for the stands. But just before the game Mr Jones told friends that he and his girl friend wanted to stand on the terraces instead. Mr Kevin Fearon, a close friend, said: ``We are all so upset about the way they died. We still cannot believe that this has happened.'' Another friend added: ``They were a great couple. Everyone in their local pub is crying. We have all given to the appeal fund and we want to put up a plaque in the pub to remember them.''

Two teenage brothers from Leicester were also among the victims. Liverpool fans Carl Hewitt, aged 18, and Nicholas, aged 16, of Severn Road, Oadby, Leicester, travelled in a coach party to Sheffield. Their father Michael, a plasterer, said: ``This has destroyed the family. The boys used to go to see their team every week. All of that has gone in one day. Someone must now answer for it.''

The oldest victim of the Hillsborough disaster was the brother of a former Liverpool footballer who played in the 1950 FA Cup Final. Mr Gerard Baron, aged 65, a retired postal inspector of Sawley Crescent, Preston, Lancashire, had gone to Sheffield with his son, aged 28. The son survived the crush. Gerard's brother Kevin, who played for Liverpool in the 1940s and 50s, won a runners-up medal in the 1950 FA final against Arsenal. Mr Baron's eldest daughter, Mrs Catherine Ellis, said: ``He had been so looking forward to it because football was my dad's life. My brother had treated him to the ticket. ``They were there together and in fact my brother saw our father go down on the ground. He tried to pull people off him, but he could not because he was pinned up against the railings and collapsed.''

Liverpool fan Mr Gordon Horn, aged 20, from Bootle, died trying to save the lives of his friends. His mother Bessie was spending her fifty-fourth birthday yesterday travelling to Sheffield to identify and bring home his body. His elder brother, Stephen, said: ``Gordon had pulled two mates from the pandemonium and pushed them both to the safety of the pitch. "But when they turned round to try to reach him he was just sucked under. They could only just stand and watch as he was trampled.''

Mrs Janice Kelly, a mother of three, of Harthill Mews, Ford Estate, Birkenhead, said her 30th birthday would forever mark the anniversary of the death of her husband, Tony. He had bought one of the last 38 tickets on sale at the Anfield ground.

One of the victims, Mr Francis McAlister, aged 27, a Liverpudlian, travelled from London to watch the game. Mr McAlister, a fireman, who lived in Finsbury Park, north London, was a member of Red Watch at Manchester Square station. Mr Bob Attwood, assistant divisional officer, said: ``He devoted his life to saving lives and he has ended up losing his own life in this way. The whole station is stunned.''

A doctor said last night that one Liverpool fan, Mr Sean Luckett, 20, who had been lying in a coma since Saturday, opened his eyes and spoke for the first time when Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, approached his bed. ``I have never seen anything like it,'' said Mr David Edbrooke, consultant anaesthetist at Hallamshire Hospital. ``He opened his eyes and whispered `Kenny Dalglish'.''

A couple whose agonized faces were in the forefront of many photographs of the Hillsborough disaster lived to recount their nightmare, although for half an hour the husband was convinced his wife had died in the crush.

Mr Brian Caldwell, of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and his wife, Gillian, were at the front of the crowd when the crush started at 2.55. Mr Caldwell said: ``They kept pressing forward, harder and harder. It happened so quickly we had no chance of getting out. ``I tried to get behind Gillian to protect her, but I could not move. I could see her face being crushed against the wire, and she was going blue.''

Mrs Caldwell said: ``I was panicking and crying to Brian to get me out but there was nothing he could do. He was at my side but we could not move a muscle. ``I knew I was going to faint. My hands and feet started to tingle, and then my head tingled and went fuzzy, and I do not remember anything else until I came to on the pitch, with a couple of policemen working on me.''

``I thought she was dead'', Mr Caldwell said. ``Her face had gone purple and there was no sign of life.'' His wife was dragged out and ten minutes later he was freed. He found her on the pitch where she had been revived by the police. Mrs Caldwell said: ``I would never again go to a match except to watch from a seat. I could never go into a crowd like that again.''