Liam Miller’s best friend reveals final few moments with late Manchester United and Celtic star
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FORMER Manchester United star Liam Miller's best friend has revealed the final few moments he spent with the late midfielder.
The ex-Celtic and Sunderland man passed away aged 36 on Friday night after losing his battle with cancer.
And speaking to the , his mate Mark McNulty says Miller did not even appear to be ill until the last few weeks before his death.
Heartbroken McNulty said: "We knew the doctors had said to him he only had a couple of weeks left.
"But when you looked at him, you were thinking, 'No way, this can’t be happening,’ he was on such good form. Next thing, he was in hospital."
And the two friends were side by side as Miller, who will be buried on Monday, took his final breath at Cork's Marymount University Hospital and Hospice.
McNulty is attempting to help Miller's wife Clare and son Corey, 13, Leo, 11 and eight-year-old daughter Belle come to terms with the tragedy.
The pal, who plays in goal for Liam's hometown side Cork City, said: "Myself and two of Liam’s good friends were up with him the last night.
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"He was obviously in a coma but they still say the person hears what’s going on around you so we were just chatting like normal – funny stories through our childhood and stuff like that.
"His family gave us 20 minutes on our own with him. We were all there when he stopped breathing. I take comfort we were with him to the end."
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McNulty continued: "I would like to think I’m a strong character but last night and today have been the two toughest days of my life.
"Last night wasn’t something that I’d want to see again. It’s obviously a very tough time for the family. Clare’s gone through a lot in the last five months, same as Liam’s mother. His children are so young.
"I think he kept fighting right to the end because of his family. He was a family man but when he was with the lads, he was just one of the boys.
"No doubt as his kids get older and they look back at the career their dad has had, they will be very proud children to see all the photos and videos of their dad playing for such big clubs."
Miller won 21 caps for the Republic of Ireland and had been best friends with McNulty since the duo were 14.
Miller joined Celtic in 1997 and was brought to Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2014. After two years at Old Trafford, including a loan spell with Leeds United, he left for Sunderland before heading north of the border to play for Hibs.
Two years later he swapped Scotland for Australia to embark on spells with Perth, Sydney and Melbourne before heading back home to join McNulty at his hometown team Cork.
McNulty recalled: "I remember speaking to him only the other day about when he was first over at Celtic when he was 16 and he was writing letters home to us.
"We were talking about how things had changed over the years, how now we just get on Skype or WhatsApp, but he said he still had a few of those letters at home, the same as myself. And when I feel like I’m up to it, I will obviously look back and read those letters.
"As a kid, he was telling everyone he wanted to be a professional footballer and there were teachers saying, ‘Ah, Liam, what do you really want to be?’
"But he was adamant and said, ‘I want to play for Celtic and Man Utd’. It was every kid’s dream to go and do that but because of the type of person he was, he achieved what he set out to do. It’s unbelievable to think he achieved everything. It just ended too soon."
McNulty revealed that Miller discovered he had a tumour when he was told he had terminal cancer by medics in America.
It was found in his oesophagus and it had srpead to his kidneys, liver and lungs before doctors found it.
He said: "When they first found it, they said a tumour had been growing for the last two years.
"Obviously, when he was feeling the pain over that two years, he just put it down to training. He never thought it was cancer.
"It got so bad he eventually went to the doctor and they took his bloods and said, ‘You need to go straight to the cancer hospital.’”
McNulty and Miller did manage to enjoy one last night out together at a dog track just last weekend - but his friend's condition quickly deteriorated.
He said: "You wouldn’t even have thought he was sick. Another of our buddies and our wives and all Liam’s family were down the dog track in Cork on a night out and he was on great form.
"We were sitting having a bit of grub and the only thing missing was having a pint in his hand."
Miller's former club Manchester United will wear black armbands for their clash with Newcastle this afternoon in his memory.
And flags were flown at half-mast and their was a minute's silence before Celtic's victory over Patrick on Saturday.