A resilient young man who died from an "invisible illness" never let his limitations define him and "lived his life how he wanted".
Richie Salmon was just 23 when he died from cystic fibrosis – a genetic condition that results in a thick mucus build-up in the lungs and digestive system. Richie, who was born and brought up in Bebington, lived his whole life with this invisible illness, which has only recently begun to be understood.
Stuart Maddocks, who grew up with Richie, told the ECHO: "Cystic fibrosis wasn't really understood as it is now. Social media and the accessibility of the internet means we are all a lot more informed. Richie was really resilient and just pushed on.
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"He never allowed his limitations to define him. It wasn't hard to involve him. It was just who he was. He was always part of everything.
"We were always blown away by his mental strength – he would just soldier on. Like all diseases he got progressively worse as he got older. His body was deteriorating but mentally he was still so strong."
Stuart, now 48 and living in Spital, said Richie was one of, if not the first people in the UK to have lung-lobe transplant for his cystic fibrosis. Despite this, Richie died several years later in 1998.
Richie had gone to school and grown up with a strong group of friends around him. And Stuart said having Richie as a friend helped the group of young men better understand the world around them.
Stuart told the ECHO: "Knowing what Richie went through made us more conscious about what people could be going through. We understood more about hidden disabilities and learned from a young age to treat people with compassion and empathy.
"We were just kids at the time and there wasn't much education about that growing up in the 80s. But we understood people's struggles, especially those you couldn't see."
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that tends to worsen over time and can lead to serious infection or the lungs stop working properly. Currently about half of people with cystic fibrosis will now live past the age of 40, according to the NHS, while children born with the condition now are likely to live longer. More work has been done in recent years to understand the illness – and new revolutionised treatment has been introduced and made available for children.
While the loss of such a good friend would in many cases have driven apart a friendship group, Richie's death in fact brought them closer together. Stuart said "we really tried to take a positive out of what was such a negative". The group has also stayed close to Richie's parents Elaine and Peter and older brother John – and included them wherever they can.
Some of the group have moved away from Merseyside, but Richie's friends meet up every May and Christmas to have a drink and remember him. Many of the group have also continued to raise money and support the work going into cystic fibrosis research and treatment.
Later this month Stuart and Tim 'Azy' Hayes will be competing in a charity sprint race at The Oval in Bebington – where friends spent a lot of their time growing up.
Stuart told the ECHO: "It's been a long-running joke about who is the fastest. We thought we'd finally settle it and raise some money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust at the same time. We'll be remembering Richie.
"We've always tried to honour his life. Knowing Richie is a big part of who we are. It was a tragedy but we've tried to do something good with it."
You can donate to Stuart's fundraiser here.
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