A firefighter who helped a search-and-rescue team in earthquake-hit Haiti has lost his battle with leukaemia.

John Taylor, who grew up in Drayton, near Abingdon, was 47 when he died last month.

He was one of about 60 UK firefighters to go to Haiti in January to find and treat thousands of casualties.

While in the devastated country, the retained firefighter helped pull two survivors from the rubble.

But having returned home, he developed a cough and lost weight. He then discovered he had been living with chronic myeloid leukaemia for a number of years.

A bone marrow transplant proved unsuccessful.

Mr Taylor, who attended Josca’s prep school in Frilford and Larkmead secondary school in Abingdon, worked as a nurse in the accident and emergency department of Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.

His mother, Ann, said: “He commanded so much respect from all his co-workers.”

Mr Taylor, wife Amanda and daughters Molly, 12, and Eleanor, seven, lived in Kingsclere, near Newbury.

Mrs Taylor said her son had a passion for the great outdoors.

She said: “He loved nature, he loved to fish, to hike. There was no holding him, he had a fantastic love for life.”

The funeral is at St Mary’s Church, Kingsclere, at 1.30pm on Monday. Donations to the Anthony Nolan Trust and Thames Valley Air Ambulance are welcomed via the funeral directors.

Contact Howe and Son, Bear Hill, Kingsclere, Berkshire, RG20 5QA, or call 01635 298303.