Alex Pullan says the death of his twin Matthew really hit home the morning after, when he realised it had been 15 hours since they'd last spoken. It was the longest the brothers and best mates had ever gone without chatting.
Matthew, 18, died in September last year 15 months after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. It was the second tragedy to hit the family after Alex and Matthew's mum Claire died from breast cancer when the twins were just nine.
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Alex, now 19, said: "I was with Matthew the day he died. He went to sleep and we knew he wasn't going to wake up.
"It really hit me the next day. I hadn't spoken to him for about 15 hours and I thought that's the longest I've ever gone without speaking to him."
Matthew, from Bury, was first diagnosed with an ependymoma brain tumour aged three. Almost a year to the day later Claire discovered she had cancer.
After surgery and 30 gruelling sessions of radiotherapy Matthew recovered. Tragically Claire died a few years later aged just 36.
In June 2020, Matthew was diagnosed with a new tumour. Despite recovering well from the surgery, Matthew, a former student at Bury College, was told his prognosis was 'poor' and, with part of his tumour remaining on his brainstem, he underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy in September 2020.
New tumours were then discovered in his spine and his condition deteriorated. On September 9 last year he died surrounded by his loved ones, including dad Gary, 15-year-old brother Mark, stepmum, also called Claire, and younger brother Samuel..
Alex, 19, who is studying aerospace and astronautical engineering at Kingstone University, said: "I'll never not miss him. We lost our mum from cancer when we were nine, so I knew kind of what to expect. You learn to let go.
"In a way I was more upset when we first found he had another tumour. It was like you were grieving for someone before they were dead. That was one of the worst things. I just tried to spend as much time as possible with him and just hope.
"In the end we were lucky. He didn't really suffer. He was in pain, but compared to some people he didn't really suffer."
Alex says being a twin is 'like being born with a best friend' and 12 months on the pain of losing his brother is still raw. He added: "You never have to worry about making a best friend, because he's always there with you. He was funny, competitive, very intelligent. We were always friends.
"Sometimes I'd think he was just a fool, you're bound to because you are with them all the time, but we never had any major fall-outs.
"It sounds weird but one of the main things I miss about him is playing FIFA. Always having someone to do little things like that with."
Alex and Matthew, who was the eldest by 25 minutes, were both keen long distance runners and members of Radcliffe Athletics Club. On Sunday Alex will be joined by more than 30 members of the club as they take part in the Great North Run in Newcastle to raise money for the Brain Tumour Research Charity.
Ian Swan, secretary of Radcliffe AC, said: "Matthew was always quite an inspirational character around the club. He had been through such a lot, but he always had a smile on his face.
"He was one of life's good guys. When he went it just resonated with the whole club and the run was something we wanted to do to mark it."
Alex hopes the run will keep the memory of his brother alive while also raising money for a cause close to his heart. He said: "It will be a positive day. The one thing Matthew was scared of was being forgotten, so everyone getting together in his memory will be a big thing."
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