Grandad ‘with a heart of gold’ dies a year after being attacked by two former friends

A beloved grandfather lived for just 12 months after he was attacked by two former friends during a visit to their house.

Jeremy Fitzsimmons was left injured after being stabbed on the side of his torso at a flat in Blackpool on September 29, 2017.

His horrific injuries cost him his life a year later, reports LancsLive.

And since, he has been remembered as a “good man with a heart of gold” by his family and friends as they have spoken out about his death six years later.

Shortly after Mr Fitzsimmons arrived at Jimmy Walton’a flat in Withnell Road at the seaside town, the mood turned from jovial to sour as he was attacked by a local drug user he had known since school and a former friend.

Jimmy Walton and Tracey Simmonds sat beside each other on a sofa and a Mr Fitzgerald stood up from the armchair, Walton pushed him back down, calling him a thief, and set upon him with a knife.

Simmonds proceeded to egg him on, before picking up a screwdriver and joining in the attack.

Luckily, Mr Fitzsimmons managed to escape, but as he walked back to his own flat he realised he was bleeding badly from a gaping wound to the side of his torso.

But as he contemplated going back to the flat to retrieve it, Walton and Simmonds walked past him, jeering, as Walton called out: “Next time, I’ll slit your throat…”.

By the time paramedics arrived to the scene – he was pale, clammy and seriously wounded- he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, where his wound was cleaned and sutured, and he was discharged the following day.

In a statement to the police, Mr Fitzsimmons said: “I am completely in shock at the way Jimmy and Tracey attacked me. I have no idea why they have done this.

“I have never stolen from them in the past and I don’t owe them any money. No-one has the right to assault me.”

However, Mr Fitzsimmons’ daughter, Nicole, said that the horror attack was a turning point for her father, revealing he was “never the same again”.

She revealed that he was too scared to go back to his own home, until he learnt that Walton and Simmonds were to be charged for the attack.

“He was petrified”, she said.

“When I saw him in hospital, I saw a different side to him. My father always put on a brave face but he was broken. He wasn’t the same after that. He was afraid he would see these people again, afraid they would come after him.”

In March 2018, Walton and Simmonds pleaded guilty to wounding and were each jailed for their roles in the attack, with Simmonds being sentenced to 18 months.

However, he was released from HMP Styal in August the same year.

But just a year after the incident, Mr Fitzsimmons became seriously unwell and was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in August 2019 with gastric symptoms. At first, doctors believed these symptoms were of alcohol withdrawal.

They noted that just two years earlier he had been stabbed, and so treated him with oral and intravenous medicine, for vomiting, nausea and the effects of alcohol withdrawal.

A chest X-ray was also ordered, which showed a loop of bowel had herniated Mr Fitzsimmons diaphragm – but medics failed to notice the irregularity and he was discharged from hospital without a further review.

On August 8, Nicole and her partner were concerned they hadn’t heard from her dad and contacted the police to force entry to his home. Mr Fitzsimmons was found dead, having succumbed to peritonitis, a severe infection caused by the ruptured bowel.

During the trial at Preston Crown Court, Dr Anthony Bleetman, an expert in emergency medicine, said: “He should have undergone an emergency CT scan within an hour which would have identified the herniated bowel into the chest and would have led to emergency surgery within an hour or so. The likelihood of surviving that surgery would have been high.”

The jury also concluded that regardless of any medical failings, Mr Fitzsimmons would not have become unwell had he not been stabbed at the flat in Withnell Road.

Almost six years after her father was attacked, Nicole Fitzsimmons spoke of the effect the attack had on the family, as she said: “To lose my father to such a crime is soul destroying. Things have never been the same since. A big part of our lives is missing. It is fair to say there is a massive hole in our hearts and minds.

In remembering her dad, she added: “My father was a good man with a heart of gold”, his daughter Nicole said. “He was a kind gentleman and the heart and soul of our family.”