A FAMILY has paid tribute to a determined young man who lost his life to an illness he had fought for almost 20 years.

Adam Scott, 23, of Moray Close, Darlington, will be remembered as a loving and caring man who never let his epilepsy stop him living his life to the full.

Tragically, on Monday, January 19, he fell victim to the condition he had battled since he was five years old, and died following a seizure.

It is the second tragedy to hit the family in recent years. Adam's father, Paul, died from cancer three years ago.

His mother, Linda, said life was just beginning to get back to normal following her husband's death.

"We were just beginning to smile again. We were moving on and looking forward," she said.

"Adam missed his dad terribly, but he looked after me. He would come and sit next to me and put his arms around me. He was a very loving person."

Adam's funeral was held at St Andrew's Church, on Haughton Green, on Wednesday, where his identical twin, Geoff, paid tribute to him.

He remembered his brother as a strong and positive person, with a love of music and a passion for football and Liverpool.

His nickname while playing football with friends was Buffon, after the Italian goalkeeper, but as a child, Linda would call him her "little bonus".

"I didn't know I was having twins until, after Geoff was born, doctors told me there was another baby," she said.

Adam attended Abbey infant and junior schools, Hummersknott School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College. He rarely spoke of his illness and daily seizures and dreamed of a career in educational psychology.

But in a year already shadowed with sadness there is hope for his family, because Geoff and elder brother, Dean, 24, are both planning to marry in the summer.