Shot in the heart

Chris Gaynor, 42, Bury

Hearing the thundering footsteps of my four sons as they bolted downstairs for dinner, I smiled.

My eldest, Cole, then 8, was wearing his boxing gloves and punching the air excitedly.

‘You can’t eat your fish fingers with those on,’ I laughed.

It was September 2009 and Cole had just come home from boxing practice.

I’d started taking him that summer with his brothers Patrick, 7, and Conner, 6.

My youngest, Charlie, was only 3, but I’d let him join in when he was old enough, too.

I’d raised the boys alone since me