Football match aims to keep brother's memory alive

Family and friends of a man who died at the age of 26 following a stroke hope a charity football match in his name will help keep his memory alive.

Liam Byatt, from Stoke-on-Trent, passed away unexpectedly in September.

Nicola Byatt said her younger brother, a former lifeguard who worked for a digital marketing company, had been into his fitness and it was hard to accept he had gone.

"I still feel he's going to come into the room and say I'm here," said Byatt, who wanted to raise awareness and along with funds for the Stroke Association.

The Liam Byatt Memorial Match, with teams captained by his close friends, is being held at Northwood Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent on 19 June.

Byatt said her brother would have loved the match and that gave her and her family strength, as it was comforting to know so many people wanted to remember him.

"I think when someone loses someone, the worry for the family is that loved one is going to be forgotten," she said.

The 26-year-old's death had also made other young people realise they were not invincible, even when they believed they were very fit, Byatt added.

Remembering getting the call to say he was in hospital, she said her first thought was that it could not be something bad.

"Until we got there, and he was actually in theatre, I just couldn't get my head around it, I still can't," she admitted.

Byatt is now urging others to keep a close eye on their health and have regular checks on their blood pressure.

A stroke is a condition affecting about 100,000 people a year in the UK, where a clot blocks blood supply to part of the brain, potentially causing serious and even fatal damage, according to the Stroke Association.

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