Hillsborough 20 years on: The story of ex-Anfield keeper Paul Harrison who lost his father

Family man: tragic dad Gary with his son Paul

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Four-year-old Paul Harrison fools around on the couch with the father he adores.

But just seven days after this touching family moment was captured, his dad Gary was dead.

Gary, just 27, perished at Hillsborough with his 31-year-old brother Stephen - Paul's uncle.

Paul thinks about his dad every day, and the moments and milestones he has missed.

Especially the day Paul signed as a goalkeeper for Liverpool, the club he had grown up following and the one his father had lived - and died - supporting.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror ahead of tomorrow's 20th anniversary of the disaster, Paul, now 24, said: "When my dad and my Uncle Steve died I made a promise to myself that I would become a professional footballer.

"It was always my dream as a kid to become a footie player, but those events spurred me on.

"The day I signed professional forms with Liverpool was the proudest moment of my life.

"I was 19 and the manager Gerard Houllier put the contract in front of me and I had tears in my eyes.

"I felt my dad and uncle were there with me. They would have been so proud. Every time I pull on a football shirt, regardless who for, I go out and play for them."

Gary, an industrial cleaner, was Liverpool-mad, and never missed a match with his brother Stephen. Tickets for that fateful FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, were like gold dust, but Gary wangled a couple.

Paul wanted to join them but his dad gently explained he was too young and could watch it on TV instead. Paul says: "My dad and Uncle

Steve would not have missed that game for the world. I remember them setting off early as they wanted to get a good spot. Dad was convinced we'd see off Forest and go on to win the Cup. He was so excited." But soon after kick-off, Liverpool fans were dying. Gary and Stephen were among the 2,000 fans crammed in the central pen of the Leppings Lane end.

Police then threw open the main entrance gate and more fans piled in, unaware they were crushing the people in front of them to death.

Young Paul had been knocking a football about with his mates outside and wandered into the living room shortly after kick-off.

He found his mum Karen watching the chaos unfolding on the television in sheer horror.

Paul was just four years old but he remembers it vividly. He says: "When I ran in, my mum was just sitting there in shock, glued to the box.

There was chaos on the telly with hundreds of people on the pitch. Fans were climbing over fences in the Leppings Lane end and some people were passed out on the grass - it was a surreal sight.

"I didn't fully understand what was going on but I realised something terrible had happened."

As news of fatalities began to filter through, Paul's nan Joan and grandad Paul rushed around to the family home in Belle Vale, Liverpool, anxious for news on Gary and Stephen. They were hoping against hope they were safe, but dreading the worst.

Paul says: "The phone was ringing off the hook with friends and family asking mum if she'd heard anything. My sister Clare, who was eight, was in tears. I think she knew."

Later that evening, after hours of phoning Hillsborough helplines and waiting desperately for news, Karen left Paul and Clare with their grandparents and travelled to Sheffield with her brother Jimmy.

The pair scoured the hospitals but, with no sign of the brothers, they checked the mortuary.

It was Jimmy who identified the bodies.

Paul says: "I couldn't believe my dad wasn't coming home from a football match. So I waited for him to walk through the door.

Proud keeper: Paul with the European Cup "It wasn't until a week later that I realised he wasn't coming back and Hillsborough had taken him away from me for good. My mum had lost the love of her life and had to tell us that daddy wasn't coming home. But she never broke down in front of us, she was so strong.

"I'll never know how she coped, I admire her with all my heart for the way she dealt with things during such a difficult time.

"My mum made me write down my feelings towards my dad and we would talk about him.

"Throughout my career my mum has stuck pictures into a scrapbook, things my dad would have wanted to see. Every time we get the scrapbook out, memories of dad come flooding back.

"I miss him every single day. Footie games for the school were hard - a lot of the lads would have their dads cheering them on. I remember thinking, 'I wish Dad was here.'

"I was throwing myself around the pitch wishing that Dad could see how well I was doing."

Although Paul never made a first-team appearance for Liverpool, he was given a rapturous reception by the Anfield faithful when he was named as a sub against Newcastle in 2004.

Paul recalls: "I was only on the bench but when my name was read out over the Tannoy system before the match there was a huge roar. It was such a special moment, I wasn't even playing but the fans made me feel like I was on top of the world."

It was at Anfield that Paul, who now plays for Welsh side The New Saints (TNS), struck up a close friendship with Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool skipper Gerrard lost his 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley in the disaster and he wrote in his autobiography: "Hillsborough is on my mind every day of my life because I lost a member of my family there. Every year at the Hillsborough memorial service, I speak to

Paul Harrison, who used to be Liverpool's reserve keeper. Paul lost his dad at Hillsborough. Terrible. I can't imagine being without my parents."

Paul will be spending the 20th anniversary at the Anfield memorial service and says: "I know this one is a milestone but every year is the same for me.

"I always feel an incredible sense of loss. But the service is nice in a way because I get to pay my respects and catch up with some of the boys.

"I'll usually have a chat with Steven Gerrard. He understands how important the service is.

"This year will be extra-special for me because my mum will be granted freedom of the city.

"It just goes to show what a great city Liverpool is. No one has forgotten the events of that day."