TRAGIC Atherton soccer player Craig Guest was given 100 pints of blood in the fight for his life.

But 21-year-old Craig, of Hunt Street, a former pupil of Hesketh Fletcher High School, died in Manchester Royal Infirmary less than 72 hours after falling onto railings close to the Nynex Arena.

He had been taking a short cut to Victoria Station, Manchester, with friends Paul Mason, 21, of Tyldesley Old Road, and Craig Higgins, 21, of Mather Street, Atherton, when he was speared with railings through his leg and groin.

Today, distraught Paul said: "I was with Craig Higgins making our way back to the railway station and Craig was in front of us when he obviously realised he had gone the wrong way. Instead of coming back on the road he decided to try to join us by climbing the fence and that's when the accident happened.

"He shouted out and we sent for an ambulance. He dropped into my arms off the fence and a bus driver came across and we all tried to stop the bleeding but it was everywhere."

A keen Liverpool FC supporter, Craig, a popular local lad who ran his own second-hand shop in Atherton, has left a host of trophies as a reminder of the years he spent playing for Hindsford Football Club.

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