AN avid sports fan who spent over 56 years watching his beloved Hereford died during lockdown after having melanoma.

Ian Robertson found that a mole was changing on his chest about three years ago.

He went to the doctors where they ran a number of tests and found that there was a tumour.

Ian had the tumour removed and thought everything was okay. It wasn’t until he had a check up in November 2019 that the cancer had came back and had spread fast.

He started immunotherapy in January 2020 and was getting lots of side effects resulting in him being poorly from the treatment.

Sadly on April 19, he was rushed into hospital and had a very low immune system and passed away of sepsis the following day.

The family held a short service in his memory but plan to hold a bigger memorial once gatherings are allowed.

His daughter Anna Robertson is now raising money and awareness of the cancer by running 2.2 miles every day during July (68 miles) in total.

My father was such a kind, caring and positive man who was loved by so many, said his daughter Anna.

“Due to Covid-19 we feel as a family we haven’t been able to grieve for him and so it’s had a massive impact on the family.

“My dad helped me so much with my sporting goals when I was younger. So I decided to take on the challenge, each day I will be taking on different routes that meant something to him or around people that he knew.”

When Hereford were playing away Ian could be found across Widemarsh Common at Westfields.

Ian was a coach at Hereford Athletics Club for a number of years and a social member at Burghill Valley Golf Club.

Anna has already smashed her fundraising target and has so far raised over £2,100 for the University of Manchester Melanoma Project.

To donate visit: CLICK HERE