A NI man has paid tribute to his dad who passed away 13 months after finding out he was ill.
Derek Thompson had lung cancer which spread to his brain - but remained as positive and upbeat as he could.
The father-of-two has been described by his family as "a man who helped shape many lives in many different spheres".
Read more: Parents' heartache as they bury son days after he is sent home from A&E
The Randalstown man was aged 62 when he passed away and had been married to his wife Karen for 40 years - with their son Andrew explaining how his parents were "childhood school sweethearts".
Andrew, who has a brother Mark, 26, said: "We deeply miss him since we lost him in February 2022.
"In January 2021 he attended A&E with Covid symptoms, however after a routine chest x-ray he was told there was something sinister going on. Despite his lung cancer diagnosis he never once complained, always remained so upbeat and every day he sought to put others first."
The 34-year-old told Belfast Live : "My brother has just became a father there in July. He was able to tell dad the gender of the baby before he passed away, so it was nice he was able to do that for him."
Andrew, who is a specialist nurse, said his dad's main symptom was nausea. He had told him to go hospital 'to get checked in case he needed some stronger medicine'.
Andrew said: "Because he had Covid, he was given a blanket chest x-ray and then at that stage they had an incidental finding of a mass in his lung.
"He had a few months of investigations until they were able to get to the bottom of it. He was then offered surgery to remove the mass and to get a proper look at it, but at that stage it had spread to his brain and then it was more life-limiting than treatable."
The Randalstown man added: "Dad was remarkably fit, was able to row 15km and had a gym out in the shed...
"He remained so positive throughout the whole year. Even after diagnosis he remained fit. The day after his lung surgery, the consultant pulled the curtains back and he was exercising at his bedside, squats and lunges, he walked 5ks around the hospital floors. Just constantly upbeat, incredible, never had a down day, he had emotions and things, but he just lived to stay upbeat and so we could have as positive experience as a family we could."
Andrew found his dad "incredibly inspiring" and says he is "hugely proud" of what he achieved in life.
The Co Antrim man added: "He attended chemotherapy sessions in the City and he always looked out for others. He always looked out for a quieter patient and always made time to go over and speak to them. He ended up nearly as a counsellor in there. Always telling other chemo patients to keep pushing and fighting.
"One patient he even encouraged to go and mend relationships with their family... they did. Just lovely stories like that.
"He just lived every day for other people."
Derek was the Chief Executive at Electrical Training Trust (ETT) in Ballymena - with staff, family and friends now fundraising on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support.
Andrew said: "In dad's last year, he was up the Mournes twice, we had many expeditions over the years, camping and hiking.
"Dad, Mark and myself did a fairly good hike in around April 2021 when we had an awareness he probably had lung cancer, and even after his lung surgery, he made it up again.
"We decided with the ETT staff that we would do those two routes with him. Although the walks aren't huge, they are big enough for those who haven't done it before."
The first walk was up Doan on July 2, with the next taking place up Slieve Commedagh via the Brandy Pad on September 2.
To donate, CLICK HERE. £2795 has currently been raised in this fundraiser, with over £10,000 collectively donated to MacMillan to date by the group.
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