The family of a man who sadly passed away on the morning of Saturday 5 October following an RTC on the Rainford Bypass have paid tribute to him.



GARY SPAFFORD, 31.
“We are devastated by the sudden loss of our Gary, which has left an enormous hole in our hearts. He was a lovely person always smiling, always full of life. He was our son, brother, uncle, partner, friend and a dad himself to our beautiful Abbie Rose. He absolutely loved his family and we loved him in equal measure.
Our family is broken, mum Elaine, dad Neville, step-dad Tony, partner Hannah, brother Karl, sister-in-law Christa, niece Amelia and Nephew Bradley. He adored and admired his Grandma Mary, who will be lost without him.
He was a devoted father to his daughter Abbie Rose, who is only 8-years-old, and his influence and unconditional love in her life is an enormous loss. He would make sure she was always having fun and he took her to swimming, horse riding and gymnastics and they would go camping, where they would have many adventures together.
He lived with his life partner Hannah who he absolutely adored. They lived in Tarleton together and had plans to get married and buy a house of their own, they were lovely together and it is so sad that all the plans they made are now shattered.
He made sure he lived his short life to the full and he was always surrounded by friends, who were like family to him.
Gary ran his own business as a Tree Surgeon – The Tree A Team, and his customers would always fall for his wonderful smile, he always managed to charm bacon butties and cups of tea off them.
Gary loved many things; his job, fishing, walking his dog Pippa and of course his motorbike, which was his ultimate passion.
At only 31-years-old Gary has been taken from us far too early and we are trying to learn to live without him, he will never be forgotten and will be with us always in our hearts.
We ask for privacy at this time while we try and make sense of our loss and learn to live without Gary in our lives.”

One day around 9 yrs ago I got a call from a young lad that wanted a motorbike picking up from miles away and I agreed to take him along. When I appeared to pick him up we got along instantly and after he had made great effort to make sure his mum and family were ok until he got back we departed.
It wasn't long before he was telling me about his job and how he was proud to be working, it was easy to see that he was dedicated to his family and was selflessly focused on what he was doing in life, he even met some of my family and I remember agreeing to some of their remarks about how this young man that stood out had a certain something about him that you only see a couple of times in a lifetime a mix of charm and straightforward honesty with a dash of confidence, indeed its hard to imagine that there would be anyone that wouldn't be swayed towards liking him he radiated charm and personality, you either have got it or you haven't, this man was born with it.
Over the next couple of years every month or two he would call me and we would go off up and down the northwest to pick up motorcycles he had bought until he moved house and his lovely Daughter was born.
You would only have to spend 5 mins with the family to see how close they are and I can only imagine Gary was a doting Father as described.

I know you all remember me and I want you to know I am deeply saddened by this awful news.