Darren Mountford's zest for life as he fights liver cancer has touched the lives of everyone who knows him. In an exclusive, chief feature writer Ali Kefford tells why the Southampton 26-year-old and his young family are an example to us all.

TEN-month-old Natasha Mountford is blissfully dozing on her father's lap.

Occasionally she stirs, her eyelashes fluttering gently against her cheek.

Three-year-old sister Chloe is chomping her way through a biscuit, smearing chocolate around her mouth.

The girls' parents tease each other, chuckling as they admit to the occasional row.

Then Darren relates the stark facts of his illness.

He tells how he has liver cancer, how 40 per cent of the organ has been removed and the rest is riddled with tumours.

The long-distance lorry driver now faces a huge dose of chemotherapy, which will keep him isolated in hospital for a month, or a liver transplant.

He is frightened but he's a fighter. He's applying a large dose of sense of humour to a terrifying situation.

All he wants is to return to the job he loves, working for Taylor Barnard Container Services.

"Do you want to see my shark bite?" he grins, hoisting his T-shirt to reveal the huge red scar from his operation in May.

"I think it looks like a Mercedes-Benz logo."

And, yes, it does.

Darren has lost four stone since he was first diagnosed with a tumour in his groin 18 months ago.

The growth was removed and he had courses of chemotherapy that left him seriously ill and unable to drive.

As his hair fell out, Darren would pluck handfuls from his scalp and leave them around the house and his work, jokingly blaming the condition on stress.

He and his 32-year-old fiance, Kerrie Rowe, met five years ago and now live in Mardale Walk, Millbrook.

"When I first saw her slouched on the sofa I thought 'I'm not getting hooked up with that!'" he chuckles.

"Oh yeah? And who called me five times a day and turned down a job in America because of me, then?" Kerrie retorts, dressing Natasha for an afternoon party.

"I did," says Darren.

Who wears the trousers? "Oh, she does."

The courses of chemotherapy made Darren violently sick.

His mother, Heather Hiscott, would sit up with him into the early hours, keeping him company. The sickness scared little Chloe so much she shied away from her father.

Last Christmas, however, Darren fought the constant waves of nausea, determined to take his family to see Lily Savage in panto at The Mayflower in Southampton.

"I didn't think I would be able to make it. It was about two hours long - but I was all right.

"I don't mind being sick when you've been out on the beer, but I'm fed up with it, I really am. I just want to go back to work. I'm confident I will recover. You have to think positive. There's not a lot I can do about it. Cancer is just one of those things. The consultant says he hasn't seen a case like mine in 25 years."

Darren and Kerrie had planned to marry on June 2 this year.

But they had to cancel the ceremony at the last minute as he was called in for the urgent liver surgery.

The couple are struggling financially because Darren has simply not been well enough to work.

As a result, they have not been able to afford to rearrange their wedding. But their family and friends had other ideas.

They've given the couple £500 towards the cost of the civil ceremony on August 18.

Now there's a whirlwind of activity as they plan the special day.

"I spoke to Darren's mum and it snowballed from there," says Kerrie.

"I can't believe how generous people have been. It makes me want to cry."

She adds: "I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone. It's not been nice."

Chloe scrambles onto the lap of Darren's work colleague Knut Dahl, her fingers covered in chocolate.

He says: "To work with Darren is a pleasure. He bends over backwards to help other people. We felt that we had to do something for him.

"He's just amazing. He's an example to us all."

l The couple still need somewhere to hold their reception. Anyone with a venue or who wants to make a donation towards their wedding can do so by calling John Ashley on 07796 204140.