DEVASTATED Kelly Turnbull will say goodbye to her fiance at his funeral today - the day they had once planned to marry.

Gary Armstrong, 38, and Miss Turnbull had set today as their wedding day.

They later cancelled it in favour of going on a family holiday, but the date kept a special significance for 27-year-old Kelly.

Gary was killed without warning by a heart attack at the home they shared. He woke with flu-like symptoms, and then felt tingling sensations in his arms. Before she could call an ambulance, his condition deteriorated.

Yesterday, on the eve of the funeral, at the crematorium in South Shields, South Tyneside, Miss Turnbull said: "We were together on Monday when it suddenly happened without any warning. He asked me to hold him and said 'Just remember I will always love you'. I told him I love you too."

In May they decided to postpone the ceremony to go on a family holiday to Spain with their children, Kieran, nine, and Brooklyn, three.

Miss Turnbull said: " We moved in together after our first date four and a half years ago. I knew he was the one."