A holidaymaker left in a coma in Turkey after being taken seriously ill on holiday has died just days after being flown back to the UK.
Andrew Morrall, 53, needed emergency surgery and was placed in an induced coma after medics discovered a hole in his oesophagus.
He had flown out for a dream trip to Antalya with his wife Yvonne, 46, and daughter Samantha, 30, on September 18 and was due to return home a week later.
But four days in on September 22, Andrew, started feeling sick and was complaining of chest pains and was rushed to a private hospital.
The dad-of-one was later transferred to a hospital four hours drive away where he underwent an emergency operation.
His condition then took a turn for the worse when he contracted pneumonia and he then had a stent fitted.
He managed to regain consciousness and was flown back to England earlier this month where his condition appeared to be improving.
But tragically the grandfather-of-four suffered a heart attack and died at the Royal Stoke University Hospital surrounded by his family over the weekend.
Today (Thurs) Yvonne, of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., described her husband-of-eight-years as a ‘pure gent’.
The retail manager said: “What has happened has been horrendous.
“Andrew fought a very long battle from when this first happened.
“It was such a shock seeing him deteriorate like that because we thought he would be fine and we thought he had got over the worst of it.
“I haven’t come to terms with what’s happened.
“My work have been really supportive and I’ve got a great family and the hospital staff have been amazing here and in Turkey.
“Andrew was a lovely man and he didn’t have a bad bone in his body, he was a pure gent. He loved his family and will be greatly missed by a lot of people.
“We had a beautiful marriage, we never had an argument in the eight years we were together.”
Yvonne has thanked friends, family and well-wishers who supported the fund-raising appeal to help pay for hotel costs and living expenses during Andrew’s treatment in Turkey.
She added: “It was absolutely fabulous. It supported us with the hotel bills, a flight home, and without it we couldn’t have stayed out there at all.
“The gratitude for what people did for us is very high.”
Daughter Samantha, a sales negotiator, added: “I’m devastated and I never thought I’d lose my dad at this age, I’m very numb still.
“I’m going to miss him a lot, he was the number one man in my life, he was caring and had all the time in the world for anyone.
“We were always positive he would pull through, even until the last minute.
“I would like to thank everyone for all of their support, the fund-raising sustained us when we were over there.
“Not once did we ask for that but people still helped.”
Sister-in-law Stephanie Johnson, 37, said: “It has been absolutely horrendous.
“Andrew was genuinely the nicest person ever, he didn’t argue or shout with people, he’s probably the only person I’ve never argued with.
“He looked OK when he came back and when I visited him in hospital I looked through the window and he was waving and blowing kisses so to see what has happened since is shocking.”
Andrew leaves behind his wife Yvonne, son Richard, daughter Samantha, three stepchildren and four grandchildren.