Barry McGuigan has paid tribute to his late daughter Nika this afternoon on the third anniversary of her tragic death.
Danika McGuigan, who was more commonly known as Nika, died on the 23rd of July back in 2019 following a short battle with cancer.
And today on the third anniversary of her passing, McGuigan shared a touching tribute to his daughter on social media
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"Three years today Nika, how do we mend our broken hearts," read the post on Twitter.
Nika was first diagnosed with cancer when she was just 11 years old, and showed immense courage to beat the disease as a teenager.
In her adult years, Nika became a very well respected actress and starred in a number of television shows and movies such as 'Philomena', 'Wildfire' and 'Can't cope won't cope.'
For her performance in 'Wildfire', Nika, who was only 33 years of age when she died, was posthumously awarded the IFTA award for best lead actress in a film.
In an interview with The Mirror in 2011, the former world champion McGuigan spoke about how difficult it was for his family when Nika first became ill in 1997.
"It was like being hit with a sledgehammer. No amount of fighting in the ring could have prepared me for it."
Barry said he was in Ireland when he got a call from a doctor and could hear his wife Sandra sobbing in the background.
"We spent the next six weeks staying in the hospital hoping and praying Nika would get better. They gave her chemo straight away. I can’t tell you how terrified I was, seeing her go through it all.
"She was in a high dependency ward. At one point there were seven kids in there and four of them died.
"We got to know those children and their families. We were going to the funerals, feeling their dreadful loss and wondering if it was going to happen to your child.
"But Nika was incredibly strong and positive. God, did she fight. I was so proud of her. I've never seen such will power."
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