Dad's final text just 40 minutes before tragedy struck

He sent a final text to his daughter, then 40 minutes later tragedy struck.

David Barden was taking part in a charity bike ride, 1600 miles from Agadir to Santander, when he died in the Moroccan earthquake earlier this month. The 71-year-old was in the Tizi N'test mountain region when a 6.8 magnitude tremor struck the region, collapsing his hotel, the Liverpool Echo reports.

His daughter, Sarah Barden said she spoke to her dad everyday and that he sent her a text less than an hour before the earthquake struck. The text read: "'I'm at top of a mountain range in a place called Tizi n Test. A weird day.. xxx"

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The 41-year-old said her dad was due to stay at Hotel La Belle Vue in Tizi N’test after a tiring day, however, he decided to stay in the closer Cafe Sunset. Sarah was left unsure of her father's fate for days after the earthquake struck.

Sarah called all the hotels in the area in hopes of finding out what happened to her dad. The owner of Hotel La Belle Vue, Hamza Bourmazough, was able to help her out.

Sarah said: "Without Hamza, who managed to clear the paths with authorities, we would not have found him. Hamza lost everything, his home and business and walked around eight kilometres to dig my dad from the rubble."

Now, a fundraiser has been set up for Hamza who helped people in the surrounding villages while being a victim of the earthquake himself. Sarah said: "I have no idea how to go on without my dad. My dad was my light and life, the one to lift me up when I fell down, sometimes quite literally." She added: "He was resilient and