A PRECIOUS family photograph, which captures a happy moment in a man’s final days, has been voted the top exhibit at a prestigious London show.

Zadee Chambers-Swords took the picture of her grandad, Thomas Chambers, as he cuddled her daughter, Peyia, aged three, after he arrived to stay with the family following months in hospital. Just days later he died.

The keen photographer entered My Moment into a national competition and it was selected as one of 122 artworks to go on display in the capital.

Visitors to the exhibition at the Mall Galleries, which took place between December 16 and 20, were asked to vote for their favourite piece of artwork and she has received the People’s Choice Award.

Mrs Chambers-Swords, aged 33, of Horwich, said: “It’s just the best prize ever. To know so many people have visited and think my piece deserves recognition is amazing.

“It’s the icing on the cake and I’m very proud.

“It’s very poignant timing too, the exhibition was on over the anniversary of my grandad’s death.

“It’s was an early Christmas present and is a great start to the New Year.”

Mr Chambers, from Liverpool, had prostate cancer and aplastic anaemia — bone marrow failure.

His condition deteriorated in 2008 and he spent three months in the University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, before moving in with his grand-daughter, her husband, Malcolm Swords, and their daughter, in December last year. He passed away on December 17, 2008.

Mrs Chambers-Swords works for BAE Systems, where she heard about Sue Ryder Care’s Art Liberating Lives competition, which celebrates art as a form of therapy.

The charity, which provides care in communities across the UK, chose 122 pieces from thousands of entries to go on display.

My Moment by Mrs Chambers-Swords, who also runs her own business, Photography by Zadee C Swords, was voted by visitors as the favourite overall piece across the whole exhibition.

cherry.thomas@theboltonnews.co.uk