Twin pays tribute to Billingshurst brother, 23, ‘loved by everyone’ who died suddenly

Lewis Chilcott suffered a seizure and was admitted to hospital on June 11, his sister Hannah said. He was given a tracheotomy and put on to life support but suffered complications during the procedure. And now Hannah has launched a fundraiser to give Lewis ‘the send off he serves’.

She said: “During this procedure, he had a rupture and sadly ended up in cardiac arrest. Lewis was then sent to Brighton Hospital and went into emergency open heart surgery for 11 hours. He made it.

“Fast forward two and a half weeks – Lewis had come on leaps and bounds, he was awake, no sedation, no life support, and attempting to talk to his dad.

“Everything was going well and we were so proud of him for improving.”

But just hours later Hannah said Lewis suffered another rupture and despite the best efforts of medical staff he died on the morning of July 24.

Hannah paid tribute to her twin brother as a ‘massive motorbike, fast car, fast anything fan’.

She said: “It’s hard to imagine life without him. He was the staple of the family.

“Lewis was a very loved son, brother, twin, uncle, cousin, friend and many more titles.

“Hundreds of people know him. He brought smiles and laughter to everyone that knew him.

“He had such a large volume of friends as well. Everyone loved him – he loved everyone. He would do anything for anyone.”

Lewis’s twin thanked the medical staff who cared for her brother for more than a month.

She said: “We couldn’t thank the nurses and the staff and everyone more.

“Even though this is unfortunately a tragic event they have done their utmost to save him. Their response was amazing.”

And now Hannah is raising money to give her twin the ‘best celebration of life physically possible’.

Thousands of pounds have already been given to the fund by more than 100 people.

Hannah added: “Me and my family – we can’t thank everyone enough.

“The response has been absolutely overwhelming. The amount of people that have come forward and even people we don’t know that have been donating.

“It’s just incredible to see so many people coming together for Lewis.”

To give to the fund in memory of Lewis click here