A brave young man who battled against a severe handicap has died suddenly, aged 21.

Sean Healy, of Clacton, was born with cerebral palsy and was unable to talk, walk or use his hands.

Throughout his life his parents Jan and Pete Healy were overwhelmed by the generosity of people in the town, who raised thousands of pounds to buy specialist equipment for Sean.

When he was two, fundraisers bought an ortho-kinetic chair, which was tailor-made for him.

At nine, more money was raised to buy a Real Voice machine, which by using foot switches allowed Sean to speak with a computer-generated voice.

Jan said: "Sean was well-known in the area. He was born with cerebral palsy but he coped with it well and was always very happy and contented with his life.

"A lot of people helped to raise money for his talking machine which helped him enormously he used it all the time. We would just like to thank everyone for their help."

She added: "He was a lively, bubbly person with a fantastic personality. He never let his cerebral palsy get in the way of good living."

Sean attended the Valence School in Kent until he was 19 when he moved to Mansfield to study for an NVQ in leisure and tourism at the Portland College in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

His mother said: "He was greatly loved by all members of staff and his friends, but he was taken ill in September with pneumonia."

Sean became gravely ill and had operations on his stomach and lungs, but by Christmas he was considered well enough to leave Kingsmill Medical Centre and return home to north Essex.

He moved to Carnarvon Nursing Home in Clacton, where he died on March 5. The Essex coroner has been informed.

A funeral service will be held at Weeley Crematorium on Thursday

Sean's family request no flowers but donations can be made to Colchester General Hospital's special care baby unit, care of Co-operative Funeral Service, Clacton.

Published Thursday, March 14, 2002