The mum of a young Harlech man who died last weekend has described him as “one in a million”.

Liam Ashton-Hughes died at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor on Sunday, 14 March, aged 30.

In 2010, Liam was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart. He was at university in Wolverhampton at the time, and had to stop his studies.

Liam underwent a lung transplant in 2017 and contracted viral pneumonia less than a year ago.

Liam, pictured with mum Clare, was a volunteer with Harlech Responder and a cadet instructor with Clwyd and Gwynedd Army Cadet Force.

Clare Ashton told the Cambrian News: “Liam was one in a million. He was very special. I’ve been blown away by all the messages and how much people loved him.

“After he was diagnosed as terminal, we could occasionally talk about the situation. He would ask me ‘do you think I’ll get a mention in the paper?’ I said to him I would shout his story from the rooftop.”

Clare, who now lives in Pwllheli, continued: “He meant so much to so many people. People from the cadets, the Welsh Ambulance Service and First Responders have all paid tribute.

“He had a lung transplant in October 2017. Everything went well.

“He had applied and been accepted into Swansea University to study paramedic science.

“He contracted viral pneumonia in June 2020. That left him with a lot of scarring on the lungs.

There was nothing that could be done.

He caught infection after infection.

He caught coronavirus during the Ysbyty Gwynedd outbreak, and he fought that off.

However, this weakened him.”

She added: “Liam never complained. He always said there was someone else worse off than him. He wanted to give back.

“I can’t praise the NHS enough. They were angels. They helped to maintain his dignity and fulfilled all of his wishes for end-of-life care.

“He was a cadet instructor and had his own detachment in Barmouth. He was one of the first instructors to enable online learning at the start of the lockdown.

“Even in hospital, he was Zooming with his cadets. He loved the children like they were his own.

“Liam’s positivity had kept him going. He gave without taking, he was definitely a giver and he gave his all to everyone and everything he put his mind to.”