BRAVE Tim Neale, who married his sweetheart in a race against time after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, has lost his battle for life.

His distraught widow Debs has told how the love of her life - who shared her passion for motorbikes - died as she cradled him in her arms on Monday night at their home in Irving Road, Lordshill.

The couple warmed the hearts of Daily Echo readers when they covered up their heartache and tied the knot, surrounded by family and friends, at the city's register office.

Brave Tim, 35, and Debs, 40, then rode on the back of a Yamaha trike to the reception at their local pub, the South Western Arms, St Denys, on their special day, October 7, last year.

Sadly Tim's condition began to deteriorate in November and he was told that his chemotherapy had stopped working.

Debs told the Daily Echo: "I just have to keep remembering to breathe. I didn't think it would happen this fast.

"Tim had started to get weaker and he tried to be happy over Christmas time, but he was getting tired a lot quicker.

"We were told the chemotherapy had stopped working and he went into Countess Mountbatten Hospice for a few days before he was told he had around two weeks to live and he chose to come home.

"On Sunday he perked up and seemed to be fairly pain free because he had an extra pack of morphine. But by Monday his cough had started to get worse and he was struggling to breathe.

"I had to go out and pick up a prescription for oxygen at 5pm. I drove like the Dukes of Hazzard and then got stuck in a queue, thinking all the time about Tim and the state he was in, while the people in front of me discussed verucca cream. I just wanted to scream "get out of my way".

"The whole thing took an hour to do. Just under three hours later Tim died."

Choking back tears, Debs added: "I am dealing with it fairly well because his face is no longer in pain. It's been a long time since I last saw him without pain.

"It's going to be so hard because he was just so wonderful. It shouldn't have been Tim. He was way too handsome and clever. Nobody had ever loved me like him.

"On Monday he kept saying he was frightened. I kept telling him he had to relax and let me cuddle him and look after him and I had to persuade him to have a diamorphine injection because he didn't want it. But eventually he agreed and he had the needle and as I rubbed his arm, he died in my arms."

Tim's funeral takes place on Wednesday, at St Peter's Church, Bengeworth, Evesham. Said Debs:

"I want as many people who knew Tim, as many bikers and as many flowers as possible at the funeral."