Family's tribute to Stourport bike death man Lee Stead

Lee Stead, aged 24, was rushed to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital with serious head injuries after being knocked off his mountain bike in Stourport on Saturday night.

Three days later his parents Neil and Debra took the agonising decision with doctors to turn off his life support machine.

They kissed him goodbye on Tuesday morning and told him they loved him before his heart stopped beating.

Mr Stead, 47, said: "We were with him all the time – the whole family visited him at one point, hoping he would wake up and see us all.

"At one stage he did try and breathe on his own, but it was all too much for him.

"Both myself and Debra sat by him before he died. We said our goodbye to him and told him we loved him."

Lee lived in Park Crescent in Stourport with his parents.

Lee was nicknamed Leeber by his friends and had the name printed on the back of his Aston Villa shirt. After leaving school in Redditch aged 16, he had many jobs including working as a plumber, a bar man at the Crown Inn in Stourport and a machine operator at Smethwick Drop Forgings (SDF) in Kidderminster.

Having being laid off six months ago from SDF, he qualified as a forklift truck driver in Lye and was waiting on news from a job interview when the incident happened on Saturday night.

Mr Stead said: "We had been sitting in watching television when Lee said he was going round to a friend's – he was having trouble with his moped and so used his bike.

"We next heard from his friend who had gone to search for him after he never showed up.

"We went out and just round the corner we saw flashing police and ambulance cars and Lee being treated." The family, including his two sisters Vanessa, 22, and Naomi, 19, followed ambulance crews to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The family remained by his side until his death, just before 8am on Tuesday.

Mr Stead said: "Lee was very popular, and there have been hundreds of messages on Facebook.

"He was always smiling, always helping people out – he was a fun-loving man who lived life to the full.

"He carried a donor card and we decided to donate his organs, as that was what he would have wanted.

"He loved his bikes, he was always getting one, riding it until it blew out and then fixing it to go again."

Mrs Stead, 42, said: "I'll most miss his cheeky smile – that will always stay with me.

"I'll also remember him for always coming home from work and him making me a cup of tea. Everyone is so upset."

The family are yet to arrange his funeral.

The female driver of the silver Renault Megane involved in the collision in Vernon Road, at the junction with Tan Lane, was unhurt.

Any witnesses to the incident are urged to call police on 101.