A courageous man who battled tumours and meningitis for 20 years has died after a fall punctured his lung.

The family of Craig Woodley have paid tribute to the man they say inspired others during his decades of serious illness.

Craig, who referred to his illness as the Grand National, successfully jumped high hurdles - brain tumours and meningitis - and even managed to jump his Beeches Brook, cancerous tumours of both kidneys.

Distraught - Craig's sister Angela, right, with other members of the family Picture: TERENCE BUNCH

Craig, of Berdens, Basildon, successfully overcame von Hippel-Lindau disease, a genetic illness that causes tumours over different parts of the body.

However, he died at the age of 37 after a lung was punctured by ribs broken in a fall.

Only a week earlier, Craig was put on the urgent list for a new kidney that could have set him on the road to full recovery.

Dr Chew, an endocrinologist at St Bart's Hospital in London, described Craig as the bravest and most pragmatic patient he had ever known.

His mother, Margaret Woodley, 60, said: "He never let the illness beat him."

At the age of 15, Craig developed headaches and unsteadiness and was found to have a brain tumour. On December 8 1980 - the day Craig's hero John Lennon died - Craig was being wheeled into the operating theatre for the first time.

Craig's sister, Angela Woodley, 32, said: "Within just three weeks, Craig had bounced back from the operation."

It was the first of four operations Craig underwent to remove brain tumours over the next two decades.

Angela said: "After the next operation, Craig set up his own record shop in Pitsea. "He was the original Derek Trotter. He was an entrepreneur and was always trying to make his fortune."

More in today's Evening Echo.

Published Monday October 21, 2002

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