A devoted dad-of-two described as an “inspiration” by loved ones has died after contracting coronavirus.

Former journalist Brian Hood, from Central Parade in Herne Bay, began his career working for the likes of Clitheroe Advertiser and Blackpool Gazette, before eventually moving to the Evening Standard.

The 67-year-old, who was raised in Clitheroe, Lancashire, moved to the Kent coast almost two years ago after retiring from the London newspaper.

But following several days in hospitals in Margate and Ashford for cancer treatment, he developed a cough and died at the William Harvey on Wednesday, April 15.

His wife, Alison, said: “There isn’t a person I know who would disagree with the fact that Brian was an incredibly good person – I’ve never heard anybody anywhere say a bad word about him.

“He was so respected by all of his colleagues and everybody who met him knew he was a good soul.

“He was completely selfless – everybody came first with Brian.”

Brian also worked for the Wall Street Journal and even moved to Hong Kong to take a job at the South China Morning Post.

He later worked as a freelancer at a number of newspapers in London.

However, he was diagnosed with stage-four kidney cancer in 2010, when doctors discovered signs of the disease during an operation on his sinuses.

“You hear that and you think, ‘I’m not going to have this man longer than six months,’,” Alison, 61, continued.

“The fact that we had 10 years was somewhat miraculous.

"He retired in 2018 from the Evening Standard and then we took possession of our flat in Herne Bay. He loved his place by the sea.

“He was a fighter and he always used to say to me ‘you don’t fight cancer; it’s not a battle. You have cancer and you do what you’re told to get rid of it’.”

Following an operation on his jaw, for which Brian had to stop taking his cancer medication, in February, the cancer spread worsened and he lost the use of his legs.

He was consequently admitted to the QEQM Hospital in Margate for treatment.

“Whilst we didn’t want him to go into hospital because we knew how dangerous it was from the point of view of Covid-19, we didn’t have any choice,” Alison added.

“He was transferred to the Westview Hospital in Tenterden and within five days he came down with a bit of a cough and very quickly it went downhill.

"He was so respected by all of his colleagues and everybody who met him knew he was a good soul..."

“He went to the William Harvey on the evening of April 14, and he passed away by the evening of April 15.

“I wasn’t allowed to go to see him and that was really heart-breaking. All we can think of is he must have caught it in hospital.”

In all, Brian worked for the Evening Standard as a sub-editor and later a production editor on its business pages for 25 years.

Former colleague Jim Armitage paid tribute to him online, calling him a "funny, clever and understated production editor" who "improved my ropey copy and made our pages sing".

He leaves behind two sons – Tom, 29, and George, 26.

“He was absolutely devoted to his children,” Alison said.

“Brian’s an inspiration, and I’m lucky enough to say the boys are like him.”

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