Bryan was born on 23rd September 1986.

He was brought up in Castletown, and he had an exceptionally close bond with his mam Janice.

As a young lad, he went to Castletown Juniors and then on to Castle View.
To be fair, his school days were less about academics and more about sport.
Bryan loved sport. He was excellent at football and cricket, and that’s where he really came alive.

He played centrehalf for the school football team and represented Sunderland Boys.
He also played cricket for Hylton Colliery, the league team and Durham, where he opened the bowling, and was a better batsman than he ever got credit for.

His childhood, though full of fun and sport, was also marked by serious health challenges.

After a football injury where he took a stud in the leg, he developed a rare tropical ulcer that led to septicaemia, and he came close to losing the leg.

And as a young adult, he suffered from viral meningitis.
And more recently, these incidents became a running joke.
Bryan never got something mild, it was always the serious, the rare, the dramatic.
If there was a worstcase scenario attached to an ailment, Bryan seemed to attract it.
But Bryan took it in his stride, the way he always had.

He was so laid back, he never asked questions, but he faced every challenge with that same mix of grit, humour, and sheer bloodyminded determination.

The very qualities that shaped the man we’re remembering today.

Sport was always a huge part of Bryan’s life. He played football for Redby Boys for a number of years and made some great friends there.
He also played for Ryhope Under18s and for Myers Tools.
Sport wasn’t just something he did, it was the very core of who he was.

He was a talented and fiercely competitive allrounder in both cricket and football, described by many as an “absolute nightmare on the field” but a “lovely bloke off it.”

His competitiveness was legendary, and when he later became a dad, he famously never let his young son, Theo, win at anything, from board games to football, believing it was important to build a winning mindset.

His cricket career spanned several clubs, including Hylton Colliery, Boldon C.A., and Littletown.

He was known as a fast opening bowler who “pushed it through,” and he was a good bat.

After Hylton, Bryan moved to Boldon C.A., where he opened both the bowling and the batting. Later moving to Littletown CC.

And it became a running joke amongst his mates, Bryan never seemed to take his Littletown tracky top off, it was practically part of his skin.

Just before his cancer diagnosis, Bryan had signed on to be the firstteam captain at Dawdon, a role he was genuinely excited about, but one he never got the chance to fulfil.

He was a massive Sunderland supporter, and he frequently attended matches at Wembley, each time declaring it a “onceinalifetime chance,” which became another running joke given how many “onceinalifetimes” he managed to rack up.

But nothing topped the day he took Theo to the playoff final. That was special. That was the moment he’d always dreamed of sharing.

And his love for football never faded, it was part of him right to the end.

After his initial surgery left him unable to play cricket, he channelled his competitive spirit into golf.

And in true Bryan fashion, he didn’t just take it up, he became very good at it.
He got his handicap down, went on trips with the lads to Scotland and Portugal, even won a competition over there, and he did it all while undergoing treatment.

Although, depending on who you ask, his handicap may have been just a touch “creative.”

His final sporting legacy was building the Silksworth Youth FC Under9s Reds from scratch for his son, Theo and the lads.

Bryan studied electrical and general engineering at college, but left before completing his final coursework to take a wellpaid job at Nissan…

He did well at Nissan, was made up to Team Leader, and later worked at Magna and then Komatsu, where he was working until he became ill.

In 2015, Bryan met Lauren.
On their first holiday together to Mexico, Lauren discovered she was pregnant with their son, Theo.
Theo was born on the 27th of March 2017.

Bryan and Lauren were married on the 19th of April 2019 at the Ramside and they had a fantastic honeymoon in Thailand.
Before that, his stag do in Benidorm was legendary, involving him being dressed as Ginger Spice, complete with a spray tan, looking like “Courtney Walsh” and having to go through airport security in a tutu with a dildo strapped to his water bottle.

And one of his other fancydress moments involved him going as a cricket bat.

In addition to Theo, their daughter Willow was born on the 20th of August 2021. She is a miniature Bryan, and absolute whirlwind.

Bryan was a loving, affectionate, and prank-loving "big kid himself," known for whipping team mates with a towel in the changing rooms, and forever hiding sweet wrappers in unexpected places like vases and plant pots….

He was notorious for never answering the phone, Bry was a texter. You’d call him, no reply, and a minute later, a text would drop in…..

Bryan was the most hands-on dad ever.
He was always making up games, chasing the children around the garden, turning ordinary days into adventures.

He was a joker through and through, always sharing the worst one liners in the family WhatsApp group.

But underneath all the jokes, the teasing, the chaos and the laughter, Bryan always made sure to tell Lauren, his kids, and his mam how much he loved them, every single day.

Bryan's had a three-and-a-half-year battle with Ewing's sarcoma and throughout this horrific ordeal, he displayed extraordinary bravery and "never complained"…..

His laid-back, "horizontal" personality remained, and with Lauren being a cancer specialist nurse herself, she said how he would just go with the flow during medical appointments and never ask questions.

His love of Sunderland never faded. Even in the Freeman, he was told to quieten down for cheering too loudly during the Sunderland v Newcastle derby, in a ward full of rival fans.

And even in the hospice, he’d sit watching the IPL cricket, still finding comfort in the things he loved.

But alongside all the laughter, the mischief, and the noise he brought into every room, there was something even stronger, the love that surrounded him.

Bryan was held up by family and friends who adored him, who stood by him, and who gave him the strength to keep going far longer than anyone expected.
Lauren, the children, his mam, his brother, his wider family and friends, they were his world.
He made sure they knew it. Every day. Right to the very end.

What stays with us isn’t just the jokes, the pranks, the sport, or the stories, it’s the love Bryan gave, the love he received, and the love that will continue long after today.

A life lived with energy, humour, and heart.
And although his time here was far too short, the impact he made was extraordinary.
He leaves behind love, laughter, memories, and a legacy that will continue in his children, in his family, in his friends, and in every life he touched.