A MAN who defied doctors’ predictions that he would die as a teenager has died aged 30.

Northern Soul fan Andrew Boyle, of Oakfield Avenue, Barrowford, was described as a ‘legend’ of the local scene.

He had health problems from birth and had a kidney transplant at the age of four.

Doctors gave him months to live when he was 18, due to the deteriorating condition of his new kidney, but he beat the odds to live for another 12 years.

Mr Boyle was a respected expert on Northern Soul and Motown music and would attend club nights throughout the area.

Veteran Northern Soul DJ, Roman Korol, 64, who runs monthly shows in Barnoldswick and Colne, described Mr Boyle’s knowledge of the music as ‘unparalleled and encyclopaedic’.

He said: “Andrew had a lot of health problems but he never let it get in the way of his passion for music.

“I loved him to bits and to be his friend was a humbling experience.

“He could name each and every track and artist just by listening to the first two or three beats and knew the history of the music going back to the sixties.

“He’d come up to the stage and help select records.

"His favourites being ‘stompers’, the more high tempo tunes.

“He would instantly know what a crowd wanted and I’ve a lot to thank him for as he would select records which filled the dance floor.

“Andrew also attended nights at Blackburn King George’s Hall and The Trafalgar in Samlesbury with DJ Richard Serling, who was equally fond of him.

“A treasured memory is of his 30th birthday party earlier this year. He wasn’t a great dancer but he tried a Northern Soul ‘spin’. “That was Andrew, filled with smiles and fun.”

Mr Boyle’s mother Gillian Barnes, said she was very proud of her son who she described ‘joyful, with a childlike quality’.

She said: “Andrew’s kidney transplant was a tremendous success, lasting nearly 26 years.

“He also had a rare syndrome Laurence Moon Bardet Biedl, which affected his behaviour and learning and gave him autistic tendencies.

“All the hospital visits had an effect on Andrew but away from that he was an immensely likable character.

“He had a wacky, strange sense of humour, quite childlike but at times he could be a ‘wise old man’.

“His other passions were steam trains and fire engines and he got to travel on many famous locomotives.

“He knew he wasn’t well but plodded on with no fear as to what would happen.”

The extent of the affection that Mr Boyle was held in came when Pendle motorbike club, The Vargulfs, raised money to send him on a Florida and Disneyland holiday at Christmas.

Staff at Pendleside Hospice also arranged for a fire engine to visit the premises as his birthday treat.

He died at the hospice with his family at his side on Sunday.

Mr Boyle’s funeral takes place today at Burnley Crematorium at 3.40 pm.

Mr Korol said tributes would be paid at Northern Soul events throughout the region this weekend, including one he is hosting at the Rolls Royce Club in Barnoldswick.

He said: “Two of his favourite songs were Ain’t Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations and My World Is On Fire by Jimmy Mack.

“I’ll be playing them both and remembering my mate Andrew with fondness.”