It was to be the first of many photographs of father and son proudly wearing their Bradford City football shirts.

Taken on Christmas Day, it shows life-long Bantams fan Shaun Dimmock with his 14-month-old son Luke Shaun Dimmock, wearing the presents they received from wife and mum Clare.

The 27-year-old father-of-one never missed a City match, even when money was tight. He had every home and away shirt since 1987 and looked forward to sharing his passion with Luke as he grew up.

But tragically, less than a fortnight after the photos were taken, Mr Dimmock was dead.

An ear infection had developed into deadly pneumococcal meningitis and despite the efforts of doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary and Airedale General Hospital, nothing could save him.

His death has left his family devastated and his wife struggling to understand how her husband of ten months could be taken from her and Luke so suddenly.

"I just keep thinking what am I going to tell Luke?'," she said. "We are in shock and just can't believe we are never going to see him again.

"Shaun was just coming into his own with Luke. He was a wonderful dad and now Luke has been robbed of the best times with him.

"The only consolation is we had Christmas together and he saw his son in a Bradford City shirt - that was all he wanted."

The couple, who met in 1999, set up home in Knowles View, Holme Wood, just a few houses away from Shaun's parents Susan and Keith Dimmock, of St Margaret's Avenue.

Mr Dimmock, who worked for FCC Ltd in Keighley making office furniture, began to feel ill over Christmas and when a pain in his ear became intense on New Year's Day he visited Bradford Royal Infirmary where he was given drops and paracetamol for the pain.

His headache was getting worse the following day so Clare called Highfield Health Centre in Tong Street at 8am for an appointment.

Mr Dimmock explained his symptoms to a GP - a headache, a stiff neck and dislike of bright lights - which the family now know are all symptoms of meningitis.

His father, Keith, said: "Even to my untrained eye he had three classic symptoms."

However, the doctor gave him antibiotics and ibuprofen for the pain and sent him home.

"He was crying with pain," said his wife Clare, 27. "He said he felt his head was going to explode. I had never seen him crying before. He went to bed but within an hour I heard him run to the toilet and he was sick.

"I got him some water and he went back to bed and I went downstairs. Then I heard a big thud and I went running up the stairs and there was Shaun trying to get back on the bed.

"I phoned Susan and she came round. He wasn't responding to us but we thought that he was pretending because he wanted to go back to sleep - he was good at pretending."

But when his mother and wife could do nothing to rouse him they called an ambulance.

When paramedics arrived Shaun was semi-conscious and extremely agitated. "He was petrified and shouting for his dad," said Clare.

"His eyes were open but there was no one there. It was awful."

Mr Dimmock was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary where he was sedated and put on life-support at about 3.15pm.

Doctors immediately started treating him for meningitis, although the disease had not been diagnosed at that time. A CT scan showed he had not suffered a brain haemorrhage which was a possibility and doctors later confirmed they were dealing with meningitis.

An intensive care bed was not available so Mr Dimmock was transferred to Airedale General Hospital, near Steeton.

"They were absolutely brilliant," said his mum, Susan, 53. "We cannot fault their care - he had cleanliness, care and dignity. They gave him every fighting chance but it was too late."

Following a second CT scan, doctors told the family it would take a miracle for him to wake up and even if he did he would be brain damaged. "I knew he would not wake up but I was still hoping - that was all I had," said Clare.

Last Friday consultants carried out two sets of brain stem death tests, which came back negative, and Mr Dimmock was pronounced dead at 1.26pm.

It was left to his father to turn off his life-support machine at 2.10pm.

"It was the last thing I could do for him," said Mr Dimmock. "All I can remember is just holding his hand."

At 2.25pm surrounded by 14 members of his family and friends his heart stopped beating.

"In my eyes that is when he died - when his heart stopped," said his wife.

The devastated family put a Bradford City shirt on him and each said farewell to him privately.

"We all said see you' and not goodbye'," said Clare. "It is never going to be goodbye. He will always be in my heart."

Mrs Dimmock said: "Everyone who met Shaun never forgot him. He was that type of character, what you saw was what you got, he had no airs or graces.

"For Shaun this was the best outcome, although it is killing us. He saw patients in hospital with brain damage when his dad was treated for a brain tumour in 2001. He always said he would not want to be kept alive like that."

She said the family had been overwhelmed by the support of their local community and by how much he was loved. "It has been a comfort to us all," she said.

The family want his funeral to be all about football and have asked everyone who attends to wear Bradford City shirts if they have them, or any other football or rugby shirt.

It takes place on Monday at St John's Church, Bierley, at 10.30am, followed by cremation at Scholemoor.

"He was Bradford City through and through," said Mr Dimmock. "If you had cut him he would have bled claret and amber. We hope as many people as possible will wear football shirts."

The family have also invited anyone connected with the club to attend the funeral.

A spokesman for Bradford City said: "It is so sad when supporters are taken from us, especially so early in life. He will be so sadly missed at games."

The Dimmock family have asked for donations to The Meningitis Trust instead of flowers as the charity is providing bereavement counselling for them.

Mrs Dimmock said: "You always think of babies getting meningitis, not a big, strapping 17-stone lad. If this makes other people more aware of the symptoms of meningitis then his death will not be in vain."

e-mail: claire.lomax@bradford.newsquest.co.uk