Mark Harries (also affectionately known as Sparky, Markie and Boom Boom Yak) was a special man who brightened that lives of many, many people. Nothing was too much trouble when it came to Mark Harries and he was a man with a Can Do attitude. If there was any mechanical, electrical or plumbing problem, Mark could fix it. If there was any labour intensive work to do, Mark was there, pushing as hard as he could to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. If anyone was going through a rough time, Mark was there in anyway that he could be to love and support that person.

He was a man that lived life to the fullest and at work he could run rings around the  younger guys until the very end.

Mark's huge love and passion for life made it all the more of a shock when on Christmas Eve of 2014 he collapsed while doing one of the things he loved - playing music (on a radio station). After Mark has recovered from the initial collapse, his first (very vocal and explentive) request was for the band to get back into the studio and finish the show. Once the ambulance arrived, in true Mark Harries fashion, he insisted on walking to the ambulance. His (systolic - the top number) blood pressure was over 280. By the time he got to the hospital his blood pressure was over 300. A normal blood pressure range is 120-140.

Once he got to the hospital, his condition deteriorated quickly and he was rushed in for a CT scan in which it was confirmed that he had a ruptured aneurysm (multiple ruptured) and by the time he was in surgery, he had one of the worst bleeds in his brain that the neurosurgeon had ever seen. We were told that 4 in 5 people who go into the surgery do not recover. Unfortunately, Mark Harries was one of those people.

Mark held on for two weeks but in his last day deteriorated quickly with multiple strokes in all parts of his brain due to the uncontollable high pressure in his brain as a result of the bleed.

While we acknowledge that with the damage done to Mark's brain would have meant that his life would be a living hell for this man who lived so vivaciously, it was still such a shock and such devastating news for the hundreds and hundreds of people who were lucky enough to meet Mark and who, due to Mark's charismatic and loving nature, all held Mark in a very special place in their hearts. This can be seen in the hundreds of tributes on his Facebook page.

We hope, through this memorial donation, perhaps the surgery and treatment for ruptured aneurysms and strokes can be improved to save the heartache that so many of us are experiencing.

There will never be another Mark who had the knowledge, the work ethic, the love of life and the love of love that our Mark Harries had.

Rest in peace our beautiful man. You will be forever loved and forever missed.