A WOMAN has told how her poorly husband managed to get away with her on a final holiday at the second attempt - just weeks before he died from cancer.

The Press reported in June how Claire and Steve Potter's plans to go on a fortnight's cruise around the Med for one last time were wrecked as they sat in a plane on the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport, ready for take-off.

Claire Potter said she and her husband Steve, 52, who suffered from a rare head cancer, were devastated when the pilot came on the speakers to say a red light had come on, indicating a fault, and they needed to disembark, and return home.

Claire, of Leavening, near Malton, said yesterday that she managed to arrange another flight and they were able to make the second week of the holiday.

But while Steve managed to dance in the silent disco and enjoy some of the cruise, he unfortunately became unwell and spent several days in their cabin with severe head pain, which they initially thought was due to Covid.

After returning home, his condition worsened and he was told the cancer had gone into the brain, and he passed away on July 16 at home.

"On July 15, he was not waking anymore but when I told him I loved him, he summoned his last bit of strength to pucker up his lips for a kiss, which came as a moment of peace," said Claire.

"He never shed a tear for himself and when I cried he told me ‘to stop being silly’

"However, when he heard the news that Deborah James, or ‘Bowel Babe’, had died at the end of June, I noticed that he was wiping away tears.

"He felt emotional in the face of other people’s pain, yet not his own. Steve said he wasn’t scared of dying, and felt more concerned about how the people he cared about would cope than himself.

"His funeral at York Crematorium was amazing. He requested ‘bright colours and a party.'

"I was absolutely amazed how many peoples' hearts he had touched over the years who wanted to attend - he would have been well impressed. The place was packed, with people standing down the sides and outside in the foyer watching on the screens."

Claire said that after selling her business, Primrose Hill Day Nursery at Stamford Bridge, in June, she and Steve had planned to spend more quality time together in their campervan, but tragically this was not to be.

"I feel robbed of the time we deserved, but am comforted that Steve was always so proud of what I achieved with the nursery and had so much faith in me," she added.