Hillsborough stories: Anthony Peter Kelly

Anthony Peter Kelly was an unemployed father of three from Birkenhead, who travelled by coach to Sheffield with friends, who all survived.

This is the full statement to the inquests from his mother, Betty Almond:

Anthony Peter Kelly was born on 12 August 1959. He was aged 29 when he died.

I gave birth to a baby boy prematurely on 12 August 1959. He was very small, weighing less than 2lbs.

He was christened straight away. He was named Anthony Peter Kelly.

'Grand lad'

He was a very sickly baby, but he pulled through everything that hit him.

Finally, he was well enough to come home; it was a day we thought we would never see.

Tony and I were so happy. Anthony grew into a grand lad.

He went to school and was so happy to be with other boys and girls. He had a lot of friends.

'Flair for cartoons'

Anthony's dad was a big motorbike fan. Anthony would help him and soon learned which spanner to use for different things.

He made a bicycle for himself out of spare parts from a scrap yard.

He played football at school. He also had a flair for cartoons. He was very good at drawing them.

When he was 18, he went into the army. We were so proud of our son.

When he came out of the army, he did various jobs. He liked playing darts. He also loved music and football, of course.

I miss him so much. Anthony was our only child. Hillsborough should never have happened.