A Bradford gym owner and boxing promoter died fighting to the last, said his family.

Terry Fawthrop, 66, known to family and friends as the Lord Mayor of Wibsey, survived a ruptured artery, then high-risk surgery to repair it, a blood clot in his leg and then ten heart attacks which followed before finally passing away on Valentine’s Day at Bradford Royal Infirmary’s Intensive Care Unit.

His daughter, Cherise Holland, said he got his final wish when 20 family and friends were with him at the end.

She said: “Dad was fighting it but I think he knew he was going to die. Before he went for the first emergency surgery he told me he wanted everyone with him if he didn’t make it – we did that for him. There were 16 family and his four best friends all round his bed, holding him.”

Mr Fawthrop had collapsed suddenly at his home two days earlier and at first thought he had taken too many painkillers for a bad back.

At 22 stone, Mr Fawthrop was a gentle giant who “lived and breathed” for his family, said his daughter.

She said: “Dad said everything he did was for us. He worshipped the ground mum walked on. We were all very close. He was known and respected by many people.”

Born and bred in Wibsey, Mr Fawthrop left the village in the late 1960s to start a new life in Australia as a wool sorter but he returned in 1975 as the family grew – he has three other children Darren, Jason and Janine.

He opened Parks Gym in Wibsey Park Avenue which became the centre for Bradford’s crop of boxing talent, including British champion Bobby Vanzie and Commonwealth champion James Hare.

When he moved from Parks Gym he opened Bridges Gym in Bailiff Bridge, where he worked with troubled young people needing motivation and others who were battling drug habits.

“Dad always said it was a real gym for real people,” said Cherise.

The family are inviting friends and people who knew him to join the funeral procession when it leaves from near Parklands Surgery in Buttershaw Lane to make its way to St Paul’s Church for the service at 1.15pm on Monday.

His son Darren’s Harley Davidson group will lead the procession.