Heartbreak Dad died weeks after cancer diagnosis

THE heartbroken family of a Bristol bricklayer who died aged just 34 have remembered him as the life and soul of any party.

- Angus MCINTYRE

Aaron Murphy, from Bradley Stoke, died on July 17 just a few weeks after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of bowel cancer. His wife Nikki said she and their two young sons were struggling to adjust to what had happened.

"It has ripped our whole future away," she said. "It's just stolen it, and that's incredibly hard to come to terms with."

Aaron's funeral was held at Westerleigh Crematorium on August 1. True to his larger than life character, the chapel was absolutely packed, and nobody wore black according to his wishes.

"He would make friends, he would talk to anybody, he was literally the life and soul of the party, sometimes a bit too much," Nikki said. "If you could have seen the amount of people at the funeral, it was just unreal.