DAVID HAWKEPopular Dartmouth chef David Hawke died from a meningitis bug on the holiday island of St Lucia in the West Indies after going there to celebrate his 58th birthday.Mr Hawke was staying at a friend's hotel. When he failed to come down from his room on 26 February, 2009, the day of his birthday, friends went to look for him and found him dead in bed.Mr Hawke, who lived near South Brent, was a popular figure in Dartmouth who worked as the general manager at the Royal Castle Hotel.He was born and raised in Dartmouth and over the years he had run a series of restaurant businesses in the town and had cheffed aboard luxury yachts in between, travelling the world with their millionaire owners.News of his death stunned the Dartmouth community where Mr Hawke was held in high regard as a chef and as a larger-than-life character.His brother Richard said the family had been deluged with telephone calls and text message from people expressing their condolences.He said: "It has been quite amazing the amount of people who have come up to me walking down the street, telephoned or texted me."There has been an enormous response. It has been quite an eye-opener as to how many people he knew and who respected him."The deadly meningitis bug apparently started in his sinuses and crossed over to his brain, he said.Details of the cause of death were revealed followed a post mortem examination on the Caribbean island.Richard added: "Apparently he had a sinus problem which crossed over into his brain. He didn't even know he had a sinus problem, although he had complained about his sinuses while he was out there."It is bizarre and a bit of a shock to discovered he died from meningitis. It can be quick — a 12-hour or 24-hour thing. He probably wouldn't have realised he had it."Knowing David he really wouldn't have complained about it. He would have dealt with it and that was probably his undoing in the end."
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