Tribute to loving dad in motorbike tragedy
ALOVING dad of an eight-year-old girl who was looking forward to marrying his life partner has died in a motorbike accident.
The family of Gary Spafford, from Tarleton, paid a moving tribute to him, saying “he will be with us always in our hearts”.
The 31-year-old died on Saturday on Rainford Bypass.
Merseyside police is now seeking information from anyone who may have seen the collision on the bypass, at Mossborough Road, at about 11.15am.
The family has now released a tribute, saying: “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 eight 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.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has dashcam footage or information that could help the police investigation is asked to send a message on Twitter to @MerPolCC or call 101, quoting reference 362 of Saturday, October 5.