The grieving son of a Celtic fan who died after being rushed to hospital from a Hoops convention in Las Vegas has told how he will fly home with his mum's ashes.
Kevin Martin, 32, was packing his suitcase for a flight to be by mum Ellen Cassidy's hospital bedside when he received a phone call to say the 54-year-old had passed away on Thursday night.
Celtic superfan Ellen had been given a shock cancer diagnosis after falling unwell at the Hoops event in America last week.
She had travelled from Springburn, near Glasgow, for a 10-day holiday with pals to attend the Hoops event.
Just days into her trip she began suffering from pain near her kidneys and extreme fatigue.
She was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Centre in Southern Nevada where doctors found gallbladder cancer and removed the organ.
But the aggressive cancer had already spread to Ellen's lungs, kidneys and liver, and son Kevin was told his mum wouldn't have long to live.
Devastated son Kevin told the Record: "This has been the most difficult week of my life.
"My mum flew to Vegas for a dream holiday and now I have to bring her ashes home.
"She was so excited before she left. Never did I think in a million years it would have ended like this.
"It has been a horrendous few days."
Kevin continued: "I had gone out a walk last night to clear my head and saw I had missed calls from the hospital in America.
"The nurse told me my mum had passed away peacefully in her sleep, which gave me some comfort.
"The nurse was incredibly compassionate and the staff have been incredible to me."
Hospital staff told Kevin they could only keep his mum's body for two hours before it would be sent to the local morgue.
He now plans to have his mum cremated in America and bring her ashes home for a memorial in two weeks.
"My mum always wanted to be cremated so I'm going to hold a memorial mass when I bring her home", Kevin added.
"I've received a lot of well-wishes from fellow Celtic fans. I hope I can arrange a tribute for her at Celtic park. It would have meant everything to her."
Kevin has flown out to Las Vegas this morning but flight cancellations meant he had to fork out £4,000 on flights.
He will have to stay in the US for two weeks to make arrangements to bring his mum's ashes home on July 7.
His auntie has started a fundraising page in the hope of being able to raise cash for his accommodation.
The fundraising page can be found here.
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