Though he could not communicate and needed 24-hour personal care, he became well known among the fans and the players of his beloved Liverpool football club.
He then spent six weeks in intensive care at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital and was transferred to other specialist hospitals around the UK before returning home to be looked after by his parents Stanley and Hilary, in the Liverpool suburb of Mossley Hill. His injuries were so severe that doctors initially told his family he would be unlikely to survive the day. It took 23 years, to December 2012, for the high court to quash the original 1991 inquest verdict of accidental death.ĭevine was 22 years old when he went to the game in 1989. Families of the 96 had to fight for 27 years through the legal system against a false narrative relentlessly propounded by South Yorkshire police, who blamed the victims, the Liverpool supporters themselves, for the disaster. Tony Bland, who suffered irreparable brain damage in the crush, died in 1993 after a court granted permission for his life support to be withdrawn. Ninety-five men, women and children died immediately or very shortly after they were trapped in the crush in the central “pens” of the Leppings Lane terrace at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground on 15 April 1989. We would ask that our privacy is respected at this sad time.” “As ever, our thoughts are with all of those affected by Hillsborough. He has been supported by his family and a team of dedicated carers, all of whom devoted themselves to him. “In the intervening years, Andrew has been a much-loved son, brother and uncle. “We welcome the conclusion of the coroner, Mr André Rebello, made today at Liverpool coroner’s court, that Andrew was unlawfully killed, making him the 97th fatality of the tragic events that occurred on 15 April 1989. “Our collective devastation is overwhelming but so too is the realisation that we were blessed to have had Andrew with us for 32 years since the Hillsborough tragedy. “It is with great sadness and a sense of immense loss that we can confirm that Andrew Devine passed away yesterday at the premature age of 55,” their statement said. Liverpool FC paid tribute to Andrew Devine in a statement on its website.
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