THE widow of a man diagnosed with a fatal brain tumour the day before giving his daughter away at her wedding has said he made her "laugh every day".
Months before David Hill was diagnosed, his wife Kerri had found out she was pregnant after a 16-year gap since their second child, Daniel. He had just got a new job at Ceva Logistics after three years out of work and the couple were looking forward to a great year together. Giving away his daughter Brogan, now 19, would be the icing on the cake.
"He kept saying this was going to be our year," said Kerri, 38. "When he found out I was pregnant he was over the moon. For a few months up to Dave getting poorly, we were enjoying it and I was getting used to the idea of being a mum again."
David, 39, was a keen amateur boxer with St Paul's Boxing Academy and he first realised something was wrong after a sparring match with close friend Tony Riding. He rang up his wife on the way home to say he was lost.
Back at the couple's house in Bransholme, Kerri thought David had just suffered a blow to the head. But his condition did not improve and, after, a couple of days off work, David went to Bransholme Health Centre for testing.
Staff realised the sight had rapidly deteriorated in his left eye, rendering him partially blind. They sent David straight to hospital for tests. Results showing he had a severe tumour came back the day before he gave Brogan away in a small ceremony at the Guildhall.
"We all had mixed emotions at the wedding. It was lovely to see him give her away," Kerri said. "The results were a bit of a shock really, to everybody.
"I don't really think he took it in. Two or three months after we got the results, Dave turned to me and said, 'So it's cancer, then'. I couldn't say no."
The family got to spend Christmas with their new daughter Konni while David tried chemotherapy and radiotherapy courses. He was also scanned for cancer research, to help future sufferers.
But his condition continued to deteriorate and on Father's Day this year, he was taken to hospital unable to walk.
David, who used to run five miles a day and cycle to work, lost the use of his legs. Because the tumour was so close to key nerves, operating on it could have caused total paralysis.
Kerri, a mental health nurse, cared for him at home until visiting medical staff decided it was best for him to move to Dove House Hospice.
David died on August 19. Kerri waited until August 30, the couple's tenth wedding anniversary, before holding a funeral at Chanterlands Avenue Crematorium.
She paid tribute to his sense of humour and loving personality.
"We were together for 20 years and never spent a day apart," she said.
"He made me laugh every day. He made the best of it he could. He always looked after everyone else."
Celebration of David Hill's life David's colleagues are celebrating his life with a 46-mile cycle ride on Saturday. Staff from Ceva Logistics and Crown Paints are cycling from Hull's Sculcoates Lane to Scarborough to raise money for Cancer Research UK and his immediate family. They are being sponsored by We Print T-Shirts and Jim Bell Coaches and any money raised will be matched by Crown Paints. Anyone who would like to donate should write to Doing It For Dave, Ceva Logistics, Crown Paints, Sculcoates Lane, HU5 1RU.