The Sunrise

Photos

His Life

Daniel was born in 1979, and had a short life but with a lot of experiences. As a young boy everybody who knew the family would say what a lovely boy he was. He was always laughing and was a bit of a joker. As he grew older, his intelligence, creativity, and talent shone through. He was a gentle young man who wanted to make people happy and who loved animals. He couldn’t bear to think of others suffering and wouldn’t even step on an ant.

Daniel was a deep thinker, reading a great deal with an interest in philosophy and the history of ancient civilisations, especially Egyptian. In fact, he had tickets to go to Egypt and was looking forward to being in the desert and meditating.

He was a deep thinker who loved nature and woods and beautiful views. His sensitivity came out in the poetry that he wrote, and in his music. He was a gifted musician.

Daniel wasn’t just a talented guitarist and vocalist, but could play a multiplicity of musical instruments, the piano, the drums, and the harmonica. He could easily have become a professional musician but chose not to, saying he wanted to keep music as his own, for his enjoyment and pleasure, and not as work.

Daniel was multi-talented and turned his hand to web design, going to college to learn. He then set up his own web design company which he called ‘The Sunrise’, designing his father’s company’s web site, and giving his creative web design talents to many Brighton charities without charge. This was not without its strains on him as he was a perfectionist and could not accept compromise. He also helped Galia, his sister, with the presentation and layout of her dissertation. He was cheeky and kind and caring.

Yet he was also a tortured soul. His mental illness meant that he often experienced himself as fractured. Mental illness is often so much more painful than physical illness. Of course, much of the time Daniel wasn’t aware that he was ill. He had periods of grandiosity and being out of touch with reality.

However, it seems that in his final few weeks he was getting more in touch with the reality of his situation, was becoming aware of how fragmented his mind and life actually were, and this was extremely painful, unbearable, for him. And so he ended his life, in a beautiful park in Brighton, in a natural place that gave him comfort, with a red-breasted robin as his companion. He did not die alone, but had the natural world as his companion. His parents and sisters, his family and friends, can and should take comfort that he is now at peace and nothing can cause him pain again.