A GRIEVING Totton woman has paid tribute to her kind and loving fiancé, who died less than a month after discovering he had lung cancer.

Christien Hurley's diagnosis on Sunday, June 25 came as a shock to both him and his partner Abbie Charlton.

But despite doctors' best efforts, the 38-year-old died on Thursday, July 20 - just minutes after hearing a final message from his beloved daughter Miah, aged three.

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Abbie, 30, said: "Since the passing of my Christien, Miah is the one keeping me going, getting me out of bed in the mornings. There is such a massive hole in our lives now, and there will always be one.

"Everybody I speak to just describes Christien in the most positive ways; they never have a bad word to say about him."

Daily Echo:

The symptoms which led to Christien's diagnosis were like a bolt from the blue.

A couple of weeks before, he coughed up blood - so doctors carried out tests.

But the day before he was diagnosed, Christien took a turn for the worse.

Abbie said: "We were at Totton Carnival, and Christien was on the go-karts with Miah having a lovely time. 

"Just a couple of hours later, he was having severe chest pain and struggling to breathe."

After receiving the shocking diagnosis at Southampton General Hospital the next day, Abbie's "world turned upside down".

She said: "I was devastated.

"Christien was the positive one, telling me how it would be ok, even when he was the person going through it."

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At the hospital, Christien spent two and a half weeks receiving treatment for an infection in his heart.

Meanwhile, Abbie sat next to him every day for hours on end.

Gradually, Christien started to get better and began his chemotherapy. 

Abbie said: "He went for his first chemo session, and I stayed with him. He was so positive, and we were confident he would be cured."

But tragedy struck again when Christien, who is originally from Wales, developed a bleed around the tumour in his lung, which turned into sepsis.

He was struggling to breathe, and the doctors were forced to put him into an induced coma.

Daily Echo: Christien at the hospital receiving his first dose of chemo Christien at the hospital receiving his first dose of chemo (Image: Abbie Charlton)

Looking back, Abbie said: "He was so brave and kept holding on, even when the doctors said he wouldn’t. 

"He was holding on for something, and I was sure it was our baby girl.

"I made the decision not to bring her to the hospital because it would have been too sad for her to see.

"So we decided to make a video of Miah and play it to him.

"She made a beautiful video where she sang a funny song they always used to share, and she said, ‘I love you, daddy’. I played this in his ear, and within 20 minutes, he had passed.

"He loved his little girl with everything he had, and our little family just meant the world to him."

Christien and Abbie met in 2015 during a night out and got engaged on Christmas Day 2019.

Soon they bought a house together and welcomed their first child, Miah, in 2020. 

"We loved a weekend at home watching boxing and eating a Chinese takeaway", added Abbie.

In the wake of his death, Abbie's sister Hayley Charlton has now launched a fundraiser to cover the costs of Christien's funeral and help support her sister financially. 

In a short amount of time, the GoFundMe page has received 94 donations and raised more than £9,000.

On the page, Christien's friends and family described him as a "family man who was adored and loved by everyone."

Reacting to the donations, Abbie said: "I never imagined we would raise that much money, and every time I look at the figure, I’m reminded how much he was truly loved. 

"I will never forget the kindness that people have shown me and Miah."