A GULF War veteran, who returned to active service despite being diagnosed with a brain tumour, died at a hospice yesterday.

Colour Sergeant Gary Golbey was part-way through his second tour of duty in the Middle East when he was first taken ill, in 2005.

But the father-of-two fought back against the life-threatening illness and, while in remission from cancer, managed to pass a gruelling fitness test to allow him to return to active service.

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Colonel Tim Sandiford, former commanding officer of the Staffordshire Regiment, served with Gary, aged 42, for large parts of his 22 years in the Army.

He said: "Gaz was a larger than life character from day one and I know I speak for the rest of the battalion when I say that it feels like a light has gone out.

"He was charming, cheerful and irrepressible. As well as a fantastic soldier I will also remember him as a great sportsman, both as a boxer and footballer.

"Gaz had great strength of character and the way in which he dealt with his illness earned him enormous respect from everyone he met.

"When the boys took the salute in Hanley and then went on to a Stoke game at the Britannia Stadium, it was very telling that the focus of the day was as much about Gary as it was the battalion as a whole – such was the depth of feeling for this remarkable bloke."

The Army was Gary's life from the moment he signed up to join his local regiment back in 1987.

The champion Army boxer spent more than two decades with the Staffords – now 3 Mercian – and saw active service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq, where he completed two tours of duty.

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When Gary, originally of Kidsgrove, received the devastating news that had a brain tumour, he faced it with the same bravery he displayed on the front line.

He had suffered painful migraines while in Iraq and was diagnosed with the illness after returning home to Tidworth Barracks.

After 60 days of radiotherapy treatment, the tumour shrank substantially and he was told he was in remission.

Then it was straight back to work and Gary trained long and hard to pass the Army fitness test which enabled him to return to his unit.

In August last year a scan uncovered more tumours in his brain, but Gary, father to Denver, aged three, and Lilley, aged two, then volunteered to take part in a nationwide clinical trial of a new cancer drug. Again the size of the tumours was reduced and Gary completed his maximum of 22-years service in February this year.

He was posted to Belfast as a welfare officer, where he was able to buy the dream home he wanted, in his wife Jennifer's native Northern Ireland.

But it was his determination to complete the full 22 years' service and his dedication to duty that saw Gary win the Beyond the Call of Duty award at The Sentinel's Our Heroes in September; for being what the judges termed a "true inspiration to us all".

Earlier this year, and with typical understated bravery, Gary told The Sentinel: "The one certainty, as the doctors have told me, is that one day this cancer will kill me.

"I have to live with that fact, but I won't let it get on top of me.

"My wife and children have kept me focused and busy. The kids are wonderful. The truth is, without them and Jen, I don't think I'd have made it this far."

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