A TERMINALLY-ill man fulfilled a dying wish when he was welcomed by the entire Manchester United squad.

Dad-of-two Tom Cooper, 28 a former maintenance worker, lives in Lowerhouse, Burnley, with his wife Tammy, 28 and daughters Tienna, eight and Ziani, five.

For the past two years he has suffered from Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer behind the nose.

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On the same day Tom was diagnosed he was also told it had already spread to the neck, collar bone, lymph nodes under both arms and lungs.

He was told that he had probably had the disease for at least two years and that it was not curable.

Tom’s condition has deteriorated in recent months and he has spent two periods of more than a week at Pendleside Hospice as the pain became too much.

He is now unable to walk any distance and uses a wheelchair most of the time when outside.

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After hearing his story, Manchester United invited the family to their Carrington training ground to meet some of the first-team squad.

It was part of the club’s Christmas programme in which they provide festive surprises to fans.

Tom, Tammy, Tienna and Ziani were invited to be part of the photo-shoot for the club’s official Christmas card and got the chance to meet the squad.

The girls played ‘snow angels’ with England midfielder Michael Carrick, who presented Tom with a shirt, signed by the entire squad, and he then stayed behind to have a kick-about with the girls.

Carrick later tweeted: “Lovely to meet you all today, Hope you had a nice time. Not many people would get me to do that. Best wishes. MC.”

Tom said: “It was a fantastic day.

“I didn’t know where we were going and then I saw the Manchester United sign and thought ‘Oh my God’.

“We came in and all of a sudden I heard someone say the first-team were here, they came and had some photos with me and my family, just one-on-one and it meant a lot.

“I’ve always wanted to meet the whole team.

“It was amazing and I’ve enjoyed the full day.

“Ziani took a shine to Michael Carrick, making ‘snow angels’ and playing a little football. I keep saying he’s Ziani’s best mate now.”

Wife Tammy said the visit was a ‘bright moment in what’s been a tough year’.

She said: “At the moment Tom is either heavily sedated on a cocktail of drugs or in a great deal of pain.

“The day in Manchester was great and a welcome release for us all. We were so grateful to the club.

“At the moment with the colder weather drawing in Tom is just spending as much time as possible at home with the girls.”

Since his diagnosis Tom has been helped by the fundraising of friends and strangers alike to undertake his ‘bucket list’.

This included a dream wedding in a £20,000 ceremony at Towneley Hall and a family holiday to Disneyland Paris.

Tammy said: “The kindness shown to us over the past couple of years has been overwhelming for our family.

“Don’t let anyone tell you there aren’t thousands of kind, compassionate and generous people out there.

“They’ve helped Tom and especially the girls to create some precious, loving and joyful memories of their dad.”

Tom’s story will be featured on MUTV on Thursday, December 3.

The family is also encouraging people to follow his progress on the ‘Tom Cooper’s journey with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma’ Facebook page.