A distraught family still waiting to bury their son three months after he died today begged the authorities: "Give us back his brain."

The family of Barry Elliott, who was 28 and living in Manningham when he died, is desperate to lay the former soldier to rest but his brain is in Sheffield while his body is lying in a Bradford mortuary.

His family gave permission for his brain to be removed for testing to find out the cause of his death after he suddenly collapsed and died in October last year.

Doctors think he suffered a brain aneurysm but as he had been assaulted and knocked unconscious outside a Keighley nightclub 12 months before his death, forensic tests were ordered by a Bradford coroner to see if the two were connected.

Two men were arrested for the assault but no charges were ever brought.

Mr Elliott's family say they were told it would take between four and six weeks for his brain to be returned from the forensic centre in Sheffield but 13 weeks after his death they are still waiting.

Mr Elliott was one of six siblings and his brother Stephen Elliott, 24, who is known as George, said the whole family - especially their mother Cathy Balazs, 52, of Buttershaw - had been left in limbo. He said: "No one in the family is sleeping or eating properly. Our mother lights a candle for him every night and has a recurring nightmare where she gets a call saying they have lost his brain. She is in a really bad way.

"We feel disgusted and can't grieve properly for him because we don't want to bury him without his brain.

"They have told us we can go and visit him in the mortuary but obviously we do not want to see him like that - you don't want that to be your last memory.

"It wouldn't be so bad if they had found something out, but they haven't. They have just left us in limbo."

Mr Elliott, who would have been 29 this week, attended schools in Buttershaw and Salt Grammar School and was an army cadet in Baildon, before signing up to join the Duke of Wellington regiment at the age of 16.

He served in Northern Ireland, Belize and Cyprus, before leaving after six years. He served four-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of a robbery in Hull.

When he was released he returned to Bradford and was rebuilding his life with the help of his family.

On Tuesday, October 24, 2006, his sister-in-law Sonia Rose, 23, called him to ask if he could come to Bradford City Motor Auction in Midland Road, where she is a sales secretary, as they were a driver short. His brother George was also there.

At 8.30pm Mr Elliott was driving a car from the auction room when he suddenly collapsed at the wheel.

Ms Rose said: "He was shaking and straightening his legs, shivering and rubbing his hands.

"George asked his what was wrong - he turned to tell him but he could not get his words out.

"We rang an ambulance and when the paramedics arrived they put him on oxygen to help him breath."

As Mr Elliott had suffered a few fits since the assault the previous year and always recovered, the family expected him to be fine.

But at Bradford Royal Infirmary he had to be sedated to stop the fitting and a CT scan showed blood was surrounding his brain.

Doctors emailed the scan results to specialists at Leeds General Infirmary to see if an operation could be done but they emailed back saying there was nothing they could do.

The following day two brain stem death tests were carried out by consultants and the distraught family was told there was no chance of survival.

Surrounded by his family Mr Elliott's elder brother John Elliott, 30, turned off his life support machine on October 25.

The family were asked if they would like to donate his organs but declined. "He came into this life with all his organs and he will go out with them," said his sister Donna Elliott, 26.

His mother and father, Steven Elliott, identified his body and gave permission for his brain to be removed for testing as they wanted to know what had caused his tragic death.

After hearing nothing for 13 weeks Ms Rose said the whole family had been plunged into depression. "All we want to do is lay him to rest," she said. "He had six nieces and nephews and every day they ask where Uncle Barry is.

"He adored them all and it would be nice to be able to take them somewhere to see him but we can't. We don't know when his brain and body will come back together."

Following telephone inquiries by the Telegraph & Argus on Tuesday this week, the family were informed yesterday that Mr Elliott's brain would be returned to them soon and they will be allowed to bury him shortly after.

Bradford coroner's officer Alan Pritchard, said: "It is the technical process that has to be gone through by the forensic pathologists to determine the precise cause of death which takes some time."

An inquest into Mr Elliott's death will resume at Bradford Coroners' Court when a detailed report into the cause of his death is received.

e-mail: claire.lomax@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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