Grieving parents tell the tragic story of their son, who lived in a tent before his death

The grieving parents of a homeless man who died have thanked those who tried to help their son at his worst. Paul Dono was found dead in the Travelodge in Trentham after a lifelong battle with alcoholism.

His heartbroken parents, Marie and John Raphael, say they tried their best over the years to help Paul with his “demons.” They offered him a place to stay, but Paul preferred to stay on the streets because of his addiction.

Although they are devastated by their loss, they admit that due to his “self-destructive” nature, it was only a matter of time before Paul died. His body was found by his carer Chloe Henshaw on October 25 last year.

READ: “Get him help before winter comes” – your reaction when Paul lived in a tent for six weeks

READ: Homeless man Paul finally finds a home after 84 days in Wolstanton Marsh tent

Eventually, Paul became a well-known figure in Wolstanton while living in a tent on the march in 2021. Members of the community gathered to offer him food and clothing while others kept him company. He even shared his story with StokeonTrentLive to express his gratitude to those helping.

After the inquest, John said: “It's a tragedy. Paul was lovely but he was self-destructive. It was just a question of when the alcohol would kill him, not if. It's somewhat reassuring to know that Paul didn't have much alcohol in his system when he died.”

“Our condolences go out to other parents in similar situations who are doing their best. For many years we did not know if Paul was alive or dead. When we woke up in the morning we found him missing and a few days later we found him unconscious at the front. He had demons.

“You could send Paul to any city and within three minutes he knew where everything was. I, on the other hand, had no idea. He was really good at that.

“He was friendly and people enjoyed talking to him. The people of Wolstanton brought him food and he was very popular. Everyone wanted the best for him and I think when people see this they will be sad to hear of his death but at least they will know what happened to him.”

Marie added: “When Paul came to live with us, everything was great. We really tried to support him, but he had his demons. We helped him move into his apartment. He always said, 'Mom, I wish you could get inside my head so you could understand what I'm feeling.'

“When he wasn't drunk, he was lovable. He called his father 'Pops'. He loved dogs and they loved him too. He was a very domestic person, everything was spotless – there wasn't a speck of dust in his apartment.

“When the coroner said there was hardly any alcohol in his system, we were happy in a way because sometimes he would sense a seizure coming on and he would call me and tell me. It would have been terrible if that had been the last thing that happened to him.

“We can't thank everyone enough who tried so hard to help Paul. They saw both sides of Paul and because they saw him sober, they knew how kind he was. This is Chloe [Henshaw, Paul’s support worker]the STARS team, the police, the hospital staff, the paramedics and the coroner for the good summary of the investigation.”

The medical cause of death was sudden and unexpected death due to alcohol abuse. Paul was scheduled to move into a council flat on the day his body was discovered.

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