TRIBUTES have been paid to an Oswestry man who fought to live an independent life after suffering an aneurysm.

Nick Armstrong died aged 35 at Dolywern Care Home after suffering another aortic aneurysm – five years after having his legs amputated as a result of the first.

His brother Chris, 30, said that Nick had received the keys to a bungalow just two days before his death.

"It's totally shocked all of us. He was my big brother and he was always there for me as a kid and always there if I needed him," Chris said.

"He's going to be genuinely missed."

Chris told how before the first aneurysm, Nick worked as a sales assistant at the Plumb Center and at Kent' Supplies in Oswestry.

Although grateful to those who had cared for him, the former Marches School pupil was keen to live an independent life.

"He was looking forward to the responsibility of looking after himself again and living some kind of normal life," Chris said.

Nick, originally of Whittington Road, had also spoken about trying to find some form of work.

Speaking of how Nick was before the aneurysm, Chris said: "He was well-liked by a lot of people - he had a passion for life, you could say.

"If anyone was up for a party, it was him."

Chris told how his brother spent nine months in hospital in Liverpool – including nearly eight weeks in a coma.

Nick was in the operating theatre for around 13 hours and doctors believed there was only a slim chance that he would pull through.

"At one point they were actually going to switch off the life support machine, but he pulled through," Chris said.

He then lived in several transitional houses with two of three others, and finally to Dolywern – where he spent around three months.

"He took every day as it came," Chris said.

"I think he had his moments where he was tired of life but he carried on and took every day as it came, because it was a second chance at life for him."

Chris thanked everyone who had looked after his brother over the years.

"All the carers at Dolywern and the the trans homes did a fantastic job for him - he wasn't the easiest person to live with or get along with sometimes," he added.

A funeral service will be held at Pentrebychan Crematorium at 2.30pm on Friday, February 22.

Nick was also survived by another brother, Stuart.

Family flowers only, donation can be made to Dolywern Care Home if desired.