War link to death of soldier studied
A Gulf War veteran from the Black Country has died following an illness that his family say is linked to his days in service from 1985 to 1992.
A Gulf War veteran from the Black Country has died following an illness that his family say is linked to his days in service from 1985 to 1992.
A coroner has now pledged to see if there is evidence to suggest 39-year-old father-of-two Stuart Dyson's cancer resulted from his stint in the army between 1985 and 1992.
Mr Dyson, from Cherwell Drive, Brownhills, died on Monday, leaving his wife Elaine, and children Thomas and Amy.
He served in the Falklands and during the first Gulf War, after which his father, Colin Dyson, said he was a shadow of his former self.
Colin Dyson today paid tribute to a son he said would do anything he could to help others.
"I am proud to call him my son," he said. "He thought of everyone else before himself. He was a fantastic father, fantastic son and just a fantastic person all round.
"He has done so much for the community, from coaching football teams, sitting on schools' board of governors to working for the Macmillan cancer charity.
"He's got a wife, son and daughter who he loved, but he just did so much else. The amount of people who have come to the house since he died has been unbelievable."
Mr Dyson said he welcomed the coroner's decision to to investigate any possible link between his son's illness and his time in the forces.
"I'm just so angry," he said. "It is not just for my son but for everyone else's son who served over there and has had to face the same thing.
"We are a forces family. I served for 30 years, his brother Warren has done 18 so far and his younger brother Christopher has done five. We just hope some good can come of this all."
The medical cause of death was given at the opening to his inquest yesterday as multi system organ failure and colon cancer, but coroner Robin Balmain told how the care worker believed his illnesses were connected to his army service.
The father of two was in the Pioneer Corps in 1999.
Mr Dyson's funeral will take place at Streetly Crematorium at 2pm on Thursday, where Stuart had asked for mourners to wear football shirts instead of dark clothing.
