When he died, in October 2006, snooker’s close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.
“He was given an 80% chance of living,” Kristina says. “The odds were quite good. It didn’t work out.
“It’s awful. I wouldn’t wish any mum and dad to lose a child.
“I think the players all thought he would be OK and he would be back again. It will have been a shock for them.”
At their son’s funeral, at Leeds Parish Church, Alan recalls people “queuing opposite the church” and lining the road beyond.
“We didn’t expect the turnout,” he says. “They loved him in Leeds.”
Forever The Beckham of the Baize, Hunter’s parents would receive “the biggest bunch of flowers you can imagine”, along with a letter of condolence, from Princess Zara Phillips, whom he and Alan had met at Royal Ascot some years earlier.