![\"Nathaniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_JS321402435.jpg\")
Nathanael Hill recently graduated as a mental health specialist(Image: Nathaniel Hill)<\/p>\nNathaniel Hill, 39, made a posthumous appearance as a contestant on tonight’s episode of Blankety Blank<\/p>\n
21:36, 14 Jun 2025Updated 21:41, 14 Jun 2025<\/p>\n
Nathanael Hill recently graduated as a mental health specialist(Image: Nathaniel Hill)<\/p>\n
BBC’s Blankety Blank issued a touching tribute to a “kind” and “funny” dad, 39, who died in April. Nathanael Hill, from Kirkby<\/a>, was an armour officer in the air force and during his time he completed six tours of Iraq, four tours of Afghanistan and worked on Operation Red Flag.<\/p>\n Host Bradley Walsh was joined by Jack Dee, Rob Beckett, Lucy Beaumont, Steph McGovern, Kelly Holmes and Omid Djalili. The show ending by remembering Nathaniel, who made a posthumous appearance as a contestant on tonight’s show, with a tribute on screen.<\/p>\n After the credits finished, a message appeared which read: ‘Nathanael Hill 1985 – 2025.’<\/p>\n Blankety Blank’s viewers became emotional after seeing the tribute, sharing their sympathies online. One X user said: “Who knew you could get sad at the end of an episode of Blankety Blank? RIP Nathanael.”<\/p>\n A second said: “Wow. That\u2019s so sad. RIP Nathaneal.” Another added: “Oh how sad he passed away young.”<\/p>\n The ECHO previously reported how <\/a>during a stint in south-central Asia, Nathanael got injured by shrapnel from a roadside bomb which was remotely detonated. He was medically discharged from the Air Force following the incident as he was deemed no longer \u201coperationally\u201d viable as he struggled with PTSD.<\/p>\n Four years after leaving the force Nathanael was diagnosed with late-onset type 1 diabetes, which doctors believed was \u201cfestering\u201d for years prior. The injury combined with a new-found blood clot in his leg during the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic meant the limb was never able to fully heal.<\/p>\n Nathanael fought three bouts of sepsis and was resuscitated twice, before being admitted to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital<\/a> where doctors gave him the proposition – \u201cYour life or your leg?\u201d. In October 2022, Nathaniel chose to remove the affected limb via an above-knee amputation.<\/p>\n Last year Nathanael told the ECHO<\/a> he was determined to get back involved with triathlons and had begun fundraising to help with his dream of achieving gold for Team GB at the 2028 LA Paralympics<\/a>. Nathanael was also a former player and coach at Liverpool Tritons RUFC.<\/p>\n In April, Liverpool <\/a>Tritons RUFC shared a touching tribute to the coach following the news of his death. It read: “It is with deep sadness that Liverpool<\/a> Tritons RUFC announces the passing of our dear friend, former player, and coach, Nathanael Hill \u2013 known to many simply as Nate.<\/p>\n “Nate was a cherished member of the Tritons for several years. As both a formidable player on the pitch and a passionate, dedicated coach off it, Nate brought skill, heart, and a contagious enthusiasm to everything he did. His commitment to inclusive rugby and to our community helped shape the club into what it is today.<\/p>\n “More than his achievements in the game, Nate will be remembered for his kindness, sense of humour, and the unwavering support he showed to teammates, new players, and friends alike. His loss will be felt deeply across the club and far beyond.<\/p>\n “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with Nate\u2019s family, loved ones, and all those whose lives he touched. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten. Rest in peace, Nate.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathaniel Hill, 39, made a posthumous appearance as a contestant on tonight’s episode of Blankety Blank 21:36, 14…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[192,77,21515,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-184967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-kirkby","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114684380444408673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Nathaniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1749944652_976_1_JS321402435.jpg\")
Nathanael Hill recently graduated as a mental health specialist(Image: Nathaniel Hill)<\/p>\n![\"Nathaniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_JS321402437.jpg\")
Nathanael Hill in Afghanistan in 2007 with comedian Toby Forster(Image: Nathaniel Hill)<\/p>\n