A testicular cancer sufferer, whose wife plans to have a baby using his frozen sperm, has lost his fight against the disease.

Peter Croft, 26, died in bed at his home in Gillingham, Kent, with his wife Terri, 20, lying next to him holding his hand.

The couple froze some of his sperm before he began treatment for the disease, in the hope that Mrs Croft will be able to undergo in-vitro fertilisation.

The couple flew to Florida last month to get married, but Mr Croft collapsed with back pain just 20 minutes before the ceremony and was rushed into hospital.

Doctors told him he did not have long to live, so they married in the Aventura Hospital in Miami.

They returned to the UK on Saturday morning, because Mr Croft, who was a club DJ, said he wanted to spend his last few days at home with his friends and family.

His mother-in-law, Kerry Vernon, said Mr Croft had to be taken straight from Heathrow to Guy's Hospital, London because the eight-hour flight had weakened him. He was allowed home on Monday.

"He was aware he was home for a couple of hours and had a good laugh with us all." Mrs Vernon said.

"After that he slipped into a semi-consciousness until he died."

Mr Croft was diagnosed as having testicular cancer in March 1997, just weeks after he and Terri started their relationship.

He knew chemotherapy could make him infertile so he had some of his sperm frozen so that they could still have a family together.

Name chosen

Mrs Vernon said: "Terri is not too bad considering all they have been through, but she will miss him terribly as she has not left his side for months.

"She is a very strong girl and has good people around her. She is still planning to have his baby.

"Terri will concentrate on this to remember him by, but will have to wait for three weeks until after his funeral."

If the baby is a girl, the couple want to name her Khefran, after an Egyptian Pharaoh whose pyramid they visited on a trip to Egypt.

If the baby is a boy, he will be named Peter Michael after his father.

Mrs Vernon said the coming days would be very hard for her daughter as Mr Croft's funeral would be four days before her 21st birthday.

She added: "Peter will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him. He was the most courageous person I will ever meet."