The thoughtful son who lost his life but saved four others; FAMILY'S GRIEF OVER MAN'S DEATH.

Byline: By LUKE TRAYNOR

CHRISTOPHER McBride had a bright future.

The Oxford graduate who dreamed of becoming a teacher had a girlfriend he adored and a loving family proud of his achievements.

But his hopes and dreams were cut short in an attack.

Mr McBride, 25, was quietly reading a newspaper in Liverpool's Jacaranda bar when a man viciously assaulted him.

His family endured an agonising week watching their son lying unconscious in an intensive care ward, with horrific head injuries.

He died on Thursday. Today Mr McBride's family, from Aigburth, told of their devastation at losing their "wonderful son".

They revealed Mr McBride was an organ donor, whose death had helped save the lives of four people.

His mother Maria said: "I'll miss everything about him. He kept me going when I had breast cancer. He was just my little mate."

Described as selfless by everyone who met him, Mr McBride's legacy has allowed a 21-year-old man and a 10-month-old girl, believed to be from Liverpool, to have a new liver.

Doctors have also told the McBride family that his kidneys were given to two men from the north of England.

His uncle John McCarthy, 50, said: "He was always worrying about someone else, never himself.

"Christopher was a pacifist, he didn't believe in violence."

After the attack, on Tuesday, September 20, Mr McBride got the train home from the city centre to St Michael's station, near his home.

He went to bed that night, but never woke up.

The next morning, he was taken to Walton neurological centre where he remained on a life support machine for a week.

He was operated on to remove a massive blood clot on his brain.

But the following Thursday, after being placed on a ventilator and being fed through his nose, Christopher was declared brain dead.

Recounting the tragic night of the attack, his mother said: "I remember he looked really stressed out and although there were no marks on him, he seemed hyped up.

"I wanted to call the police, but he said that his head was hurting and he wanted to get a wet towel before going to bed.

"The next morning he just didn't wake up."

Mr McBride went to Blue Coat School in Wavetree and then Oxford university where he achieved a 2:2 degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He was a keen sportsman and a delegate for the National Union of Students John Frazer, from Dawlish Close, Halewood, has appeared in court charged with grievous bodily harm. Detectives are now deciding whether he should face a charge of manslaughter or murder

ECHO

Essentials

LAST year, more than 400 people died while waiting for a transplant. One in 10 people waiting for a heart transplant will die and many others will lose their lives before they even get on to the waiting list You can sign up to the NHS organ donor register by calling 0845 60 60 400. You can also find out more and sign up via www.uktransplant.org.uk

Even if you carry a donor card, adding your name to the register is a more permanent way of expressing your wishes

CAPTION(S):

HONOURED: Christopher collects his degree from Oxford university; MISSED: Christopher McBride with Santa as a child, and, right, in the hockey team