A "kind hearted" football fan has died of Covid after telling family he couldn’t breathe - and his friends have spoken of how they wish they'd told him to get the vaccine.
Carl Pennington, 41, didn’t believe he had the coronavirus when he developed symptoms but ended up being hospitalised.
Friends and family were given hope when his condition ‘started improving’ after 10 days on a ward - but things started to go wrong quickly.
Carl, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, died on August 9, just 30 minutes after being placed on a ventilator to help his lungs function when his condition rapidly worsened.
Friends of the healthy Liverpool FC fan have been left "kicking themselves" that they didn’t push him to get jabbed.
Close friend Jamie Williamson, 31, told the Liverpool Echo : "My mum called me and she was screaming and crying saying that he had gone.
"I couldn't believe it. I called his brother to ask if it was true and that's when they told me. I was devastated."
Jamie described Carl as "a very special man" who was "known by everyone".
He said: "He no doubt touched a lot of people's hearts by just being himself, you wouldn't have met a more kind hearted man in your life.
"He would put everyone else before himself, if it was that you needed a package picking up or your hair cutting, he was always there.
"The fact he's gone is hard to take, I will miss him and can't thank him enough for being like the older brother I never had."
Friends of Carl have been getting vaccinated in droves since their loss and have been left wondering what might have been if their friend has been jabbed.
Jamie admitted: "A few of us have now gone to get our vaccines, I'm just kicking myself because he was cutting my hair for me and talking about how he wasn't going to get the vaccine.
"I wish I pushed him or told him to get it but at the end of the day it's down to everybody's own personal preference."
For most of his adult life Carl cared for his mum, who died of a heart attack earlier this year.
Jamie said the family are now faced with organising and paying for two funerals, which prompted him to set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs.
The 31-year-old from Skelmersdale said: "This family have been through so much and I couldn't just sit there and watch them struggle.
"I had a chat with a few people and thought I would set up a page to see how we did. The response has been brilliant so far."
