A "lovely" dad died suddenly during a weekend away at Butlins.
Jonathan Gelling visited the resort in Minehead, Somerset, with his partner Caroline Conway, 48, and friends to watch the UK Open darts tournament on the weekend of March 3.
The 41-year-old, originally from Wigan but living in Kirkby, had watched the first part of the tournament on Friday, before having some food and going to bed. He was found the following morning by his partner Caroline, who shouted for help.
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But despite the best efforts of his friends and paramedics who performed CPR, Jonathan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Friend Lisa Donoghue, 49, who works as a nurse at Aintree Hospital, told the ECHO: "Having to resuscitate him was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. We were all trying to resuscitate him for 20 minutes before paramedics came and obviously took over."
Lisa said Jonathan was suffering from cold symptoms including a slight cough before he died, which could have been caused by a chest infection. A post mortem has been carried out but the results were inconclusive and an inquest is expected to be held in due course.
Friends Lisa and Vicki Jackson have set up a Gofundme page to support Caroline with the cost of Jonathan's funeral. Lisa said they would also like to thank the security staff at Butlins Minehead who couldn't do enough to help them throughout the ordeal.
Paying tribute on Caroline's behalf, Lisa said Jonathan was "such a friendly, friendly person."
She described him as a "happy" man who "would do anything for anybody", adding: "he was such a lovely, genuine guy. He'd been in a new job for three weeks. He had a lot of friends, especially from school."
Jonathan had recently started a new job working at a bread factory just weeks before he died on March 4. His funeral will be held at St Helens Crematorium on March 29.
A message on the Gofundme page reads: "We are fundraising on behalf of our lovely friend and colleague Caroline Conway, who is a nurse at Aintree Hospital. Her loving partner Jonathan Gelling suddenly passed away on Saturday 4 March 2023 at the age of 41.
"His passing was completely unexpected and has devastated all those that knew Jon. He was a loving, caring person that had a heart of gold and had an amazing sense of humour.
"Jon had just begun a new job and had no life insurance or funeral plan. Caroline will now have to find the funds to pay for his funeral.
"We are hoping that with the help of all of our friends, family, colleagues and any well wishers that we can help Caroline in any way possible. Any contribution would be greatly appreciated."
A Butlin’s spokesperson said: “Our heartfelt condolences go out to Jonathan’s family and friends at this incredibly sad time.”
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