The son of a taxi driver who died after collapsing at a football match said his family was desperate to be reunited with his missing Rolex watch.
Jamie Gray, 31, who lives in Halstead, Essex, was with his father Kevin Gray, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, watching West Ham play in Stratford, east London, on 9 December.
His 61-year-old father collapsed and died at the stadium, and his Rolex Submariner watch went missing.
“He had that watch for 20 years after being given it as a birthday present and he wore it every day. We don’t care about the money it’s worth, but we just want it back because it was so important to him,” Jamie Gray said.
The finance manager posted an appeal on X saying his family was desperate to get back the “sentimental” watch, which was thought to be worth about £14,000.
“Dad was one of the nicest blokes going, he would do anything for anyone. He’d been taking me to watch West Ham play since I was five years old,” he said.
“People have offered to raise money to buy a new one but we don’t want a new watch, we just want our Dad’s watch.
“We would never sell it, we just want to keep it in the family and pass it down to our children. It’s a reminder of him and it would mean everything to get it back,” he said.
His father, who had three grandchildren and was a taxi driver in Sudbury, Suffolk, showed no signs of being ill before he suddenly collapsed, five minutes before the game ended.
Stewards and medics from St John Ambulance carried him up some stairs to a flat surface to begin CPR, and the watch disappeared.
“I’d like to think it’s an innocent accident, that maybe it fell off. We won’t hold any grudges or hold anyone accountable, we just want it to be returned,” he said.
The family reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police, who said in a statement that officers were “carrying out all relevant inquiries in order to locate the watch” but there had been no arrests “at this early stage”.
A spokesperson from London Stadium said: “We would like to send our condolences to the family. We are assisting the football club by investigating the CCTV footage from Monday evening.”
