A DEVOTED mother whose son succumbed to cystic fibrosis says he was an inspiration to all who met him.
Angie Geraghty said her son, Tony, was a "fighter" who touched everybody who knew him.
Mr Geraghty, 31, died on December 8 after a lifelong battle with the illness.
He married his partner of ten years, Hayley, who has a ten-year-old daughter, Georgia, last New Year's Eve.
Miss Geraghty said: "My son did not let his illness stop him.
"He was somebody who just fought and fought.
"He knew he was coming to the end of his time, but even with his illness, he lived his life to the full.
"He is going to be terribly missed by all of the family."
Mr Geraghty, of Massey Close, west Hull, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was six months old.
But his mother said he never let his condition stop him from having a normal life.
"Tony would never wallow in his own self-pity," she said.
"He would always look to the positives. He did not want us to feel sorry for him at all.
"Tony would still go out with his mates and do everything with them.
"He would get on with anybody, and I have had messages from a lot of people all over. You only realise how popular he was when something like this happens.
"I just want people to know how proud I am of him."
Mr Geraghty had his stag party in Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham, because he was undergoing treatment.
However, he was able to leave hospital for half a day so he could get married at St John's Church in west Hull.
"He was there with his oxygen tank strapped to his back and a drink in the other hand," said his mother.
Miss Geraghty, who works as a support staff at Adelaide Primary School in west Hull, said her son rushed his wedding because his health began to decline late last year.
She said: "He realised he was not very well.
"But the whole community came through and supplied different bits for the wedding.
"Everybody rallied together to make his wish come true."
His mother said that her daughter-in-law was a "rock" for her son ever since they began dating ten years ago.
"I cannot thank Hayley enough for giving him those last ten years," Miss Geraghty said.
"She was his rock. What she has gone through is unbelievable. She used to stay at hospital with him, and basically lived with him at hospital in his last year.
"She just misses him now. She is finding it hard but we are all there for her."
Mr Geraghty's mother said his funeral, held yesterday at Chanterlands Crematorium in west Hull, was a celebration of his life.
She said: "He planned his own funeral. We have all had a set of instructions from him.
"We all had to sign his coffin and he had a picture of all his friends so they will be with him."
Mandy Anson-Armstrong, who knew Mr Geraghty all his life, said that he was an inspiration to his friends.
"Tony was a cheeky guy," she said. "We want to keep his memory alive.
"He has done more than most people without cystic fibrosis would do."
