A Larkhall man took Halloween to a whole new level – by driving around South Lanarkshire in a fully decorated spook-tacular hearse!
Cancer survivor Larry Walker drove to Wales a fortnight ago to buy the "dead wagon" as it formed an important part of his bucket list in owning his very own funeral van.
Having fought a squamous cell carinoma in his neck, and undergoing six bouts of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiotherapy, Larry now wants to enjoy life to the full and purchased the hearse just in time for Halloween.
Together with wife Linda, the couple decorated the undertaker's limousine with scare-fest artefacts and a coffin and took to the streets of Hamilton and Larkhall handing out Halloween treats to children.
Larry told Lanarkshire Live: "For some reason I always wanted to own a hearse and having survived cancer, giving up my job through ill health and basically 18 months of hell, we thought this was just a great idea – a tick off the bucket list – and an all round way to cheer up the people of Lanarkshire.
"We drove around Larkhall and down to Hamilton and had people cheering, pointing, waving and tooting at us. We even had a man follow us into Asda car park and and when we stopped the guy asked if he could take some photos to send to his grandchildren. He wasn’t even going in to the shop!
"The reaction was fantastic and I'm delighted we made it happen."
Larry had a nasogastric tube fitted for six months during his treatment and dropped a whopping eight stone in weight.
Even now he only eats one toasted soda scone per day as anything else gives the 55-year-old a burning sensation in his mouth and wife Linda buys a monthly supply of the scones from Hamilton bakery, Barry Douglas.
Larry added: "It's been a tough few months but getting out and about in my new hearse at Halloween was really special for me.
"It's also been a great laugh when we take it to get the shopping too. We certainly get some strange looks when parked at the supermarket and we open up the boot to put the food shop in!"
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