Fundraising Bradford businessman dies in training for endurance runs

Restaurant owner Mohan Mistry, 58, collapsed while out running ahead of taking part in the Great North Run and Leeds 10k events and although paramedics tried to revive him he died as a result of a heart attack.

Mr Mistry's early career was as an engineer but he had gone into the restaurant trade in the early 1980s, originally opening a social club in 1983 before opening the successful Bharat restaurant in the building below the club, in Great Horton Road.

More recently the club has been run by his son Pritesh while he continued to run the restaurant with his daughter Priti.

He was an experienced runner and had taken part in both the London and New York marathons previously.

His death came as a shock because he had no known health problems, said Priti.

He used his running activities to raise money for a range of charities, including Marie Curie and Cancer Research and was well known both for that and his work in the restaurant trade.

"Basically, everyone knew him. I could not go anywhere without people recognising me as his daughter," said Priti.

"He was loved by everyone, there was no-one who would say a bad thing about him. He would always give and he would never argue, he was always so calm," she said.

Mr Mistry, who lived in Wilsden, had been running in Haworth Road when he collapsed.

"Someone called him and called an ambulance. Later we got a call from the police to say they needed to talk to us. It is still a shock," she said.

Mr Mistry's funeral attracted a large number of mourners.

He leaves a widow Niranjana as well as his two children and Priti's daughter Meera.

In addition to his routine fundraising work, Mr Mistry was involved in collecting money to help with relief work following the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, which claimed 30,000 lives, contributing towards a significant contribution from Bradford.

The Bharat restaurant has been closed since his death and is expected to re-open shortly.