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30 of our family and friends (and counting) are going to take on the Yorkshire Three Peaks mountains to raise money for Springhill Hospice in April in my dad’s memory - most of the group will take on the 12 hour, 24 mile long, 1500m incline hike, as well as a lot of training in advance, and the rest of the group are going to conquer one of the mammoth mountains, collectively, we’re determined to help Springhill Hospice as a means of saying thanks for the care and support they provided dad, mum and myself all while dad was in their care. The staff are superhuman and we want to help them in being able to continue to provide for those in need.

Any donations will be greatly appreciated. x

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My dad:

My dad did everything always with me in mind. He, and mum, pushed me mentally and physically from a young age. 

A young Sergio would watch the cricket on the TV, listen to the football on his radio all while playing with his super striker football set, yet he’d have young me doing maths quizzes and would pay me 2 pence per word I found in a word search puzzle. In more recent years he’d encourage me to go on a career path that I didn’t originally envisage but am incredibly grateful for.

As a sports fanatic he got me involved in sports, very few I was good at. Dad, and mum, would take me to karate, badminton and football where I’d “dance around the pitch” - I’d look to dad for recognition and most of the time he’d be shaking his head. Despite this, he’d persist in taking me week in week out as he wanted to see me succeed. Kayaking is one sport I am good at and a few months ago dad would take me by surprise by coming to watch me even though he was so unwell, he smiled when I looked to him this time. This spoke volumes about the dad that he was to me.

For everything he ever did and sacrificed for me, I am indebted to him.

When dad was younger he co-founded a local, but not so good football team called Italia. He played crown green bowls at Broadfield Park and Horse and Farrier too, where he won many trophies. More recently he picked up his badminton racket and challenged me most Sunday mornings, I won’t mention the time when he ended up rolling under the net.

He loved everything about Leeds United - he was mesmerised by them even after my grandad moaned about the weather and ticket prices when he took dad to his first game against Coventry in 1980 – it finished nil nil. He’d raise me as a Leeds fan too and we went to many games together and despite a few turbulent years, we saw Leeds return to the premier league - what a goal from Pablo! As for international football,we’d both see Italy come out triumphant several times. Forza Azzurri!

Dad loved music and would say you’d know if you were listening to a good song if it made you smile – in his final few days he asked me to play Don’t Pay The Ferryman by Chris De Burgh, he smiled, he sang and he tapped his feet. It must be a great song. Music meant everything to dad, his taste ranged from The Beetles to Journey and we went to gigs together and watched the likes of Avenged Sevenfold and Alter Bridge.

In his later years dad enjoyed staycations to York and Chester with me and mum – through this and our joint interests, he wanted to show me what a good life looked like, something he had always desired for me.

Dad was such a character. At any opportunity, even when he was ill, he’d try to fix me up with a girl, 25 years later I’m still single. We’d go shopping on a Saturday morning and he’d dance down the aisles wearing the squeakiest shoes. When he was in the hospice for respite, and his condition improved, he started to entertain the fabulous staff by “breakdancing”.

Almost five years ago to the day dad had a heart attack and we very nearly lost him - he saw this as a wake up call. Over the following years dad went from having plenty of relaxed muscle to losing 10 stone, he’d go from eating (and offering out) sweets to sardines, and he started to enjoy the little things in life much more. I am so proud of dad for doing all he could to turn his life around – he loved life.

11 months ago we received the devastating news that dad had cancer, he was constantly in and out of hospital and eventually became a resident at Springhill Hospice. It was on 10 October 2022 that dad lost his fight for life and he peacefully passed away with us, his family, by his bedside, while listening to his favourite music – we take comfort knowing that dad is no longer suffering and not in any pain. Again I am so proud of my dad, he fought so valiantly, not for himself, but for me and mum. We are and always will be a very close family unit, whether in person or in spirit. We love to put our feet up and watch the telly, we just hope he is still watching with us.

Dad’s final wishes were that I looked after mum, and that I carried on living and smiling – yes it’s going to be difficult but my best friend has been preparing me for this all my life. I’ll do exactly as he asks for once.