THE family of a Newport father who raised hundreds of pounds for charity before his death from cancer yesterday paid tribute to a “fantastic” and “lovely” man.

Hywel Jenkins, 38, died on January 14 just four months after he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus, lungs and liver.

The father-of-one to Brachyn, 13, was a keen sportsman and fundraiser who enjoyed putting his body to the test in aid of a good cause.

In the past two years he climbed to Everest base camp and completed several half and full marathons in support of the Alzheimer’s Society and Make a Wish Foundation.

Mr Jenkins, who worked as an engineer and had previously applied to join the Royal Marines, had always been physically fit but his health started to deteriorate last June and he lost two and a half stones in weight in just over a month.

Checks with his GP failed to find a cause at first but an endoscopy to investigate a possible peptic ulcer revealed the inoperable disease.

The former Bassaleg School pupil, of Marshfield, underwent three rounds of chemotherapy but was finally admitted to Cardiff’s Marie Curie Hospice on December 22 where he remained until he died.

Following his diagnosis Mr Jenkins and his long term partner Deborah, 39, got engaged in October and married at Newport Register Office on December 17.

His mum, Silky, 61, and dad Ken, 64, paid tribute to their son. Mrs Jenkins said: “He was a gentle person, very sensitive and had a great sense of humour. He was fantastic, he was lovely and we were proud of him,” she said.

The family are now urging younger people who think they might be experiencing symptoms of the disease, which is more commonly found in elderly people, to get checked out.

Symptoms include unintentional weight loss, pain or difficulty swallowing, hoarseness, persistent cough, heartburn and the feeling that food is stuck in the throat.

Mr Jenkins’ funeral will take place at 2.45pm on Friday at Marshfield Church followed by cremation at Gwent Crematorium.