The final moments of a man who died after sustaining injuries horrific injuries in an assault have been shared by his devastated daughter.
The images were taken of the British dad, Mike Rydings show him "laughing and smiling" before he was killed by a deadly blow on what should have been a "lads trip of a lifetime".
The 47-year-old was enjoying a four-day break in Benidorm to celebrate a friend’s 50th when he was struck during a scuffle leaving him fighting for his life.
The dad and grandad from Wythenshawe, Manchester, joined hundreds of Brits gathered in the Spanish resort to watch the June 2018 World Cup.
His group of 30 were on the Avenue de Mallorca strip when the Manchester United fan became separated from his friends, on June 22.
Alone in the early hours of the morning, Mike became involved in a dispute with another group and was subsequently knocked to the ground, smacking his head with "sickening" force on the pavement.
Weeks later, his grieving daughter, Hayley Barker, who should have been celebrating her 30th birthday with her dad by her side, was instead sat at his hospital bedside.
More than a year later, she was forced to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support and lay her dad to rest aged just 48.
Hayley, now 33, has shared the unseen photos of her dad "laughing and smiling" hours before he was attacked.
The devoted daughter is begging anyone with information about her father’s killer to come forward.
She said: “When I look at these photos I think that was the day it happened.
“Looking at how happy he was and knowing what the day turned out to be is heartbreaking.
“I think this was one of the last moments when he was smiling and laughing with his friends.
“Someone out there knows what happened and who did this to him.
“I have to pray that one day they will realise what it has done to my family and they will decide to do the right thing and come forward with information.
“I hope that when they look at these pictures they can imagine what it would be like if it was their dad and give us the closure we need to move on.
“If I knew something like that had happened to someone I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, I would have to say something.”
The mum of four says her dad has missed the birth of her youngest child and only son, Hughie, three weeks ago, and never got to meet her youngest daughter Everla, three, who was also born after the attack.
Although Spanish police investigated the incident at the time, no one was arrested or found responsible.
This week, Greater Manchester Police relaunched an appeal for information as Mike’s family desperately seek justice and closure for their loss, nearly four years on.
British cops believe that Mike was attacked between 2am and 3am on June 23, 2018, and that someone from the Merseyside area may know what happened.
On that day Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0, Nigeria beat Iceland 2-0, and Serbia lost 2-1 to Switzerland.
Mike had been wearing a red Hugo boss t-shirt on the night in question and was outside the Hippodrome bar in Benidorm Square when a fight broke out with a group of five or six men.
Officers believe that the group may have been British and that it was a strike of the arm which sent Mike flying back with a fatal head injury.
Detective Inspector Nicola McCulloch, of the force's Major Incident Team, told the MEN: "I am trying to find additional witnesses to Mike's assault and who was responsible for the catastrophic injury that he suffered, resulting in his death.
"I am hoping that someone can think back and say I know my boyfriend, my brother, my friend went to Benidorm to watch the football and he told me he had a fight with someone on a particular night.
"They (the culprit) may not have realised how serious it was, but it has had devastating consequences to a family, and they want justice and they want to know who is responsible.
"It may be that people's friendships and alignments change, now they can come forward and tell us who that person might be, and we can investigate it and see if that's right.
"The family deserves to find out what happened to Mike and Mike deserves that justice."
Mike was treated in Benidorm Hospital and then Alicante Hospital for five weeks before his family were able to raise £20,000 to repatriate him to the UK.
He then stayed at Salford Royal Hospital for 13 months and died aged 48 on August 11, 2019.
If you have any information, which could help police and bring Mike’s family closure, please contact police on 0161 856 6777 quoting Operation Thurston, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
