TRIBUTES have been paid to a "kind and considerate" man who died aged 29 from cancer – just eight days after being given the all clear.

Dan Marshall was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma last June but was told two weeks ago that he was cancer free.

Sadly six days later he had a stroke, which his family discovered was due to cancer, and he passed away on May 26.

Dan was due to get married to Lucy Pope on October 22 this year in Hereford.

Parents John and Sue, from Old Eign Hill, Hereford, paid tribute to their son this week while praising Lucy.

John said: "Lucy is a primary school teacher and she is very kind and caring. She took care of our boy.

"They knew what each other was thinking – they were soul mates and totally right for each other."

The couple lived together in Lower Bullingham after meeting each other in Mamma Jammas last year, a month after Dan moved back to Herefordshire.

Lucy said: "It's all so horrible, just two weeks ago we were celebrating the news that he had been given the all clear from cancer and planning our wedding and our future together, starting with our honeymoon to Japan.

"Last Tuesday I waved goodbye to him as I left for work and he spent the morning doing the gardening. By the end of the day he was lying in a hospital bed and we were being told that he was dying."

He had been living in Southampton, where he stayed after he studied journalism at university.

He received treatment at the University Hospital Southampton, which specialises in treating melanomas.

Singer Ellie Goulding paid her own tribute to Dan on her Twitter page saying: "Rest easy Dan."

John said: "We have received over 400 messages of support. It has been beyond belief. The number of hearts that Daniel touched, I don't think he even realised."

Lucy added: "From the moment we met we knew we were meant to be together. I know it sounds corny and I would normally be the first to smirk at this sort of comment but it was like a lightning bolt hit us and we were inseparable.

"We only got one year together after a lifetime of moments missed (we went to the same high school, same gigs, same course at the art college, and somehow never met). 

"I wish we could have had longer but I thank God that I got to experience what true love is even just for a moment."

Dan was a talented writer, photographer and singer. He also played the guitar and drums.

He was due to start working at Nando's at the Old Market on May 31 as a grill chef.

Although Dan was their only child, their niece, Kate, was like a sister to him.

John said: "He was a wonderful son. He was very caring, obviously we are slightly biased, but you just have to look at the messages on Facebook.

"Even when he was in Southampton he would ring us every day. He always finished his telephone calls with, 'I love you.'

"He was a very kind and considerate person, even more so than I realised. The people he has helped over the years have been in touch. We didn't know.

"He will be missed by many. Apart from us, his life was Lucy and his dog, Baxter."

Lucy added: "The children in my class call him Batman because that's how he introduced himself to them and they loved that Popey and Batman were getting married."

Dan's funeral is on June 8 at 2pm at the baptist church in Commercial Road, Hereford, followed by farewell drinks at The Barrels.