A DYING man from Gourock was reunited with his daughter and spent his last moments with her at his bedside thanks to local charity volunteers.

Kirsty Karanikki, 27, hadn’t spoken to her dad for a couple of years due to a family fall out.

When she tried to reach out to him last year she became increasingly concerned when no one in the area had seen him for a while.

Kirsty was then alerted to a Facebook post by Compassionate Inverclyde, desperately looking to trace her.

When she got in touch she found out that her dad, 57-year-old Jeff McFarlane, was in the critical care unit at Inverclyde Royal extremely unwell.

She made a dash to Greenock and got to spend precious time with her dad before he passed away in March.

Kirsty says she will be forever grateful to the charity, not just for bringing her back together with her father, but for helping him too.

She said: “Through Compassionate Inverclyde I was able to spend the last two weeks with my dad.

"I was there to hold his hand in his final moments and tell him how much I love him.

“While my dad was unwell, they helped him with his bills and arranged for someone to care for his dogs as well as people coming round to help clean his house.

“Even after my dad passed away, Alison Bunce from the charity continued to help with the dogs and arranged for them to go to a loving home as I was unable to take them.

“I can’t thank them enough.

"They didn’t stop until they found me to ensure I could be with my dad during his final moments.

“And the support they provided my dad for the few months before he was taken into the hospital was just phenomenal.”

Now Kirsty is determined to say thank-you to the organisation by helping them assist other families.

She and her best friend Jennifer Kerr, 27, are today taking on the Three Peaks challenge, which will see them attempt to climb Ben Nevis,, Scafell Pike and Mt Snowdon in 24 hours.

Kirsty said: “As soon as I found out everything they had done for my dad - and the fact the brought us back together ensuring he wasn’t on his own - I knew I wanted to help.

“The work they do is incredible.

“We wanted to do something really challenging to help raise as much money as we can, so we thought the harder the better - and this challenge will really push us to our limits.”

Kirsty and Jennifer both work in the same department at Barclays and the pair are aiming to raise £500 between them to help the charity support other people.

Jennifer said: “It’ll feel good to know we’re giving back to the community and helping an important charity that goes out of its way to be there for people in the moments that matter."

Between them they have already raised more than £400 and extend their thank to family, friends, colleagues and everyone who has donated so far.

Kirsty said: “We’d like to thank everyone who has donated.

"I would also like to thank Compassionate Inverclyde again for supporting me and my dad during a difficult time, as well as Donny Orr and Sandra Doull for all the help they provided as well.

"They are amazing.”

To donate to Kirsty and Jennifer's charity fund visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kirsty-karanikki or https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jennifer-kerr-1