The man who died in Monday's M6 horror crash was a dad-of-two who had recently retired.
Police confirmed the victim of the tragic collision, close to Haydock, was Paul Maliczewski, aged 62, from Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Paul was married and a dad to two grown up daughters whom he adored - he was known as Big Paul to his friends.
He was a well-known mechanic at Park Motors in Wigan where he worked for over 40 years, before recently retiring.
He was described today as "a kind, loving, caring man" by those who knew him.
Following Monday's tragic incident, his former employers put up the following tribute on their Facebook page: "We are deeply saddened to learn that a member of the Park Motors family has passed.
"Paul, big Paul as known to many, was with us from the beginning, he gave his whole working life to our business and had only recently retired after 40+ years of service.
"Paul had a heart attack while driving on the motorway yesterday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and two girls who absolutely adored this kind, caring, loving man.
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"If you would like to show his family how much he meant to you, our customers, any cards or gifts can be dropped into the shop and I will personally deliver them.
"RIP Big M. You will be sorely missed."
Did you know Paul? Leave your tributes in the comments below.
Paul was driving a Mitsubishi Shogun close to junction 23 of the M6 at around 11am on Monday when the huge pile up involving two HGVs occurred.
Emergency services were called to the scene and road closure were quickly put in place as they rushed to deal with the incident.
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An air ambulance also landed close by but he sadly died before he could be taken to hospita l for treatment.
The motorway remained closed eight hours after the crash as investigators continued to work at the scene.
Officers are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision, or has any CCTV or dashcam footage and would ask anyone with information to contact @MerPolCC, 101 quoting reference 20000493128 or the Roads Policing Unit on 0151 777 5747.
