THE partner of a young Barnsley dad who died just weeks after his cousin admits a fundraiser in his memory was incredibly emotional - and she praised its organiser who has raised more than £3,500.

Ricky Warden died in his sleep aged 33 on June 8, having showed no signs of any complications in the run up.

His partner, 33-year-old Amy Mallin, said the whole family - including their children, six-year-old Henri and young Maddison - have been left heartbroken.

In Ricky’s memory, a huge fundraising effort kicked off on Saturday thanks to Nathan Cox.

Nathan, 37, from Lundwood, ran, cycled and walked 33 miles each - because of Ricky’s age - with all the money raised going towards Amy and the children.

He told the Chronicle: “When I saw that Ricky had passed away I knew that I wanted to do something.

“Every year I do a fundraiser for a different charity and this year I decided to do it for Amy and the kids.

“We’ve raised more than £3,400 which is way more than I was expecting.

“I’m over the moon that we’ve surpassed all expectations.”

Nathan embarked on his challenge at 5am on Saturday morning and didn’t return home until after midnight the following day.

And despite the hard task, he says it was worth it knowing that the money will support the family.

He added: “We didn’t set a time limit on it.

“We just wanted to raise as much money for the family as possible.

“People’s generosity never fails to amaze me.

“The run went well and then we slowed down on the bike.

“We had a big group for the walk which was great.”

And Nathan said he had Ricky in his thoughts throughout - and that it was his memory that was pushing him through.

“It was really emotional,” he said.

“I had Ricky in my mind the whole way through.

“That’s what got me through it.

“It was really nice that Amy came along, too.”

Amy said she has been overwhelmed by the support she’s received.

“It’s completely shocked us all how much money has been raised,” she said.

“I managed to do 14 miles of the walking section.

“It was very emotional.

“Even people who were just passing by and asking about the fundraiser donated which is great.”

And she was full of praise for ‘machine’ Nathan and the fundraiser.

“Seeing Nathan power through it all was amazing,” she added.

“He was so determined to do it.

“He was like a machine.

“The money will help so much.

“Just having the money and knowing it’s there is going to help so much on a day-to-day.”