A HEARTBROKEN Oakley teenager is raising money in memory of her tragic dad so he can have a headstone next to his two late sons.

Stephanie Gray, 17, was devastated when dad Dean passed away last year at just 45 after developing a rare condition that causes inflammation in the blood vessels and damages the organs.

The popular taxi driver had already suffered years of pain in his short life, losing one baby boy to illness and another at the hands of his estranged wife and her boyfriend, who were later jailed.

In 2010, he was the victim of a brutal attack while making a drop-off in his taxi and he later required two operations after two bleeds on the brain were discovered.

Despite his hardship, Dean would always make the best of what life dealt him and Stephanie is desperate to have something to mark where he was buried in Douglas Bank Cemetery.

“It sounds silly but I got sent home from work ill and when I’m ill I just want my dad, he’s the only person that’s always been there for me,” she said.

“So I went to see him but it’s just grass and it made me upset thinking about people walking past and not knowing he’s there.

“I wanted to do something for him. It would mean the world to me. I know he’d be really proud of me for doing it. It’s not what he’d have wanted for his 46th birthday on Sunday but he’d appreciate it.

“I don’t want him to feel lonely. I know he’s not here but he’s here to me. When I go to see him I don’t want to be speaking to grass.

“My little brothers are there and they’ve got a headstone, people know they’re there. It’s a really nice place, it’s like he’s looking over the boys.”

Dean raised Stephanie on his own and losing her dad has been a heartbreaking blow for the teenager, who always looked up to him.

“When I was a child it was just me and my dad growing up,” she said. “My mum went to prison and I wasn’t allowed to see her and my little brothers had passed away, so my dad was protective of me.

“The attack was the biggest impact on him not being here today. It just went downhill after that and he had problem after problem.

“There were times I’d look at him and it would be absolutely heartbreaking. After his operations on the brain, I went into the room and my heart broke. I knew I was going to have to deal with a change but I realised he was always going to be my dad.

“Even when he was going through that he’d ask: ‘Do you want me to help?’ He was always helping other people. He was loved by everyone. I don’t think I could find someone to say a bad word about him.

“He worked three jobs to keep a roof over my head and make sure I had enough to eat.

“I was in foster care when I was three and I remember celebrating my fifth birthday at home with my dad. It was the first birthday in two years I’d spent with him.

“We were really close and I wouldn’t leave his side. I’d get nightmares and go to cuddle up with him and he’d always be there.”

Stephanie set up a Go Fund Me page to try to raise money for a headstone to mark where Dean is buried and donations have already passed the £600 mark.

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed,” she said. “I’m gobsmacked at all the people getting involved. It’s lovely to see a community get together to do something for one person.

“I really hope he’d be proud of me. People tell me: ‘Stephanie, you’re doing really well’ but the only reason for that is I watched my dad do it for so long. He’d always pick himself up and never complain.

“He’d take everything as it came. He knew one day he wouldn’t be here any more and he didn’t want to spend his life complaining, he wanted to be happy.”

To support Stephanie, visit gofundme.com/2a5m43pg.