A FORMER soldier who died after being given a cancerous lung in a transplant operation was careful to ensure his lust for life survived his death.

Matthew Millington, from Biddulph, married girlfriend Siobhan after being diagnosed and took part in a film highlighting the little-known lung disorder pulmonary hypertension.

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Matthew's family remember his life - footage produced by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Saturday's Sentinel reported how an inquest on Friday found that the 31-year-old – known as Milly – died in February last year after being given an infected lung.

His family and friends have described his love of life and determination to teach other people about his medical condition.

Matthew decided to take up the Pulmonary Hypertension Association's offer to make a film promoting the charity and publicising the symptoms.

Mum Maureen, aged 61, said: "It has Matthew and Siobhan talking about their experiences, about what the symptoms were and how they first came to be diagnosed.

"When he died, his dad Lester, Siobhan and I made another one and it has been sent to every person on the charity's list and doctors as well."

Family members have spoken of their pride at his service in what is now the Queen's Royal Lancers, which he joined at the age of 16, and his time spent guarding the Queen.

Matthew, who achieved the rank of corporal during more than nine years of service, was the first member of the Household Cavalry to be seconded from another regiment when he served between 1997 and 1998.

One picture on the family's mantelpiece shows the beaming soldier with opera singer Katherine Jenkins as she visited soldiers in Iraq.

Dad Lester, aged 64, said: "She came to visit and he asked for a picture.

"She said yes, so he grabbed her!"

When Milly came around after his operation, he was determined to marry Siobhan, whom he had met in 2004.

Lester said: "In October, when they told us the news he had cancer, Matthew said on the way home he was going to get married." Brother Daren, who lives in London, said Milly's aim to get the ceremony organised inside a week was characteristic.

The 40-year-old fleet controller said: "He wouldn't sit down. It was always one thing to the next, and once he had got somewhere he was always looking for somewhere else to go."

Ten days after the proposal, on November 4, 2007, the couple were married by the hospital chaplain at Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, where Milly was being treated.

The groom took his 10 to 12 different types of medication early and left his oxygen tank in the corner to dress up for his big day.

Lester said: "I don't know where he found the energy, because in the pictures you would think it was an ordinary wedding."

Four hundred people packed into Biddulph's St Lawrence's Church on February 23 last year for Milly's funeral.

Andrew Spencer, from Church Close, Biddulph, was one of the mourners and knew his friend from around the town and pubs, including the Biddulph Arms and Roaring Meg.

The 29-year-old call centre assistant operations manager said: "There was a band we all liked in Congleton and he wanted to go, so he just strapped his oxygen tank on his pack, put on the mask and away he went.

"He was the life and soul and the best word for him is legend. You couldn't pick anyone more selfless.

"He was always up for every day and you would never find him bored."