Rivington: Heartbreak after young father dies on family walk

Ketan Patel, from Westhougton, died on May 11 this year, aged only 45.

He had been on a walk-up Rivington Pike with his wife, Nita, and their eight-year-old daughter when he collapsed. 

Members of the public, which included off-duty nurses, performed CPR, before paramedics took over. 

Tragically, Ketan was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Speaking to The Bolton News, Nita said: "We normally go to Rivington every year when the weather is nice, that Saturday the weather was quite nice and quite warm. 

"In the afternoon we had our lunch at home, my husband drove us to Rivington, we parked up and we started walking. 
Ketan Patel (Image: Family)

"He was fine, there were no signs of him being unwell. We started walking and had rests in between, taking pictures. 

"We carried on walking a bit more, then just before getting to the café we took some pictures with our daughter.

"We started walking a bit more, and that is when he started to feel unwell, and he collapsed." 

She added: "He didn't come around after that. Among the members of the public there were a few nurses who administered CPR until the air ambulance came and took over, they tried their hardest as well. 

"It took about half an hour trying to revive him and he didn't come round.

"From leaving the house and going for the walk to not ever come back again." 

A fundraiser has been launched to install a defibrillator at Fika Rivington Cafe, near to where Ketan collapsed, to help anyone who may need it in the future. 

Ketan was on a walk up Rivington Pike when he died

To hear more about the fundraiser, see The Bolton News' article on it here: Campaign to install defibrillator in beauty spot after young father dies on walk 

To donate to the fundraiser, visit this link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Rivingtonpikedefibrillatorfund

Nita added: "He was a great husband and a fantastic and loving dad to our daughter.

"He was just great with kids, we have only got the one daughter, but he has got nieces and nephews as well and he was great with all of them, he loved being around the kids and having fun with them. 

"I couldn't say a bad thing about him, he was one of the best. He was a hardworking person, he would go to work, come home, no problem, and we would have fun as a family, doing things together. 

"He had started a new job as a financial advisor, he was coming into his fifth month there. He made a lot of good friends at his workplace. 

"He was just one of the best, I was lucky to have him as a husband and a father to our daughter, I couldn't have asked for any more, he was there for us when we needed him."