A terminally ill man has organised a ‘fun filled night’ to attend his own wake, telling friends: ‘You needn’t think you’re going to party without me!’
David Hughes, 61, has an incurable form of cancer but wants one final party before he passes away.
He wants to join friends and family by celebrating his life and has already made plans for the party in Minster, near the Isle of Sheppey.
Speaking about plans to play hits from groups by Abba and Queen, Mr Hughes said: ‘I want to have my wake while I’m still around to enjoy it.’
Hughes, a former supermarket and baker worker, from Queenborough, Kent, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last September.
David Hughes, 61, has an incurable form of cancer but wants one final party before he passes away
In October, he was given the awful news it had spread to his bones and it was terminal.
His living wake will take place from 7pm on Saturday, April 28 at Minster’s Working Men’s Club and will feature disco music from the 1970s and 80s, a raffle and a buffet.
The money raised on the night will go towards prostate and bone cancer research.
Mr Hughes said: ‘I want to see as many of my friends and family, past and present, as possible while I’m still here.
‘If you grew up in Noreen Avenue, Minster, in the 1960s and 1970s or were at Minster Primary, Sheerness Secondary School for boys, or Sheppey School with me, please come and join us for a fun-filled night.
‘Or if you worked with me at Woods Bakery, Klippons, Queenborough Rolling Mill or Morrisons.’
He added: ‘Life is about making memories and moving on, but it’s also about all the people you know and have met along the way.
‘It will be great to have a catch up with people I haven’t seen for a long time.
‘Why have a get together when you’re dead?’
Minster Working Men’s Club, where Mr Hughes will hold his living wake next month
Mr Hughes has two daughters, Emma and Lauren and has four grandchildren, Carys, Jayden, Sasha and Savannah.
His sister Miriam Parker said: ‘If you know David, come and celebrate his life and help him see faces from the past before he leaves us forever.
‘He’s such a hard working, decent, nice chap. The best big brother I could wish for and always has been.
‘Let’s give him some happy memories to help him through this very tough time.’