A heartbroken woman has paid tribute to her "loving and caring" partner who tragically died after falling from a roof just days into his new job.
Derek Heslop, known as Dez, was only 23 years old when he slipped and fell 15ft from a roof in South Shields and sustained a severe head injury. This was his fourth day in his new role as a roofer, and his partner Rebecca Ward was six months pregnant with their first child.
Recalling the incident Miss Ward, from Dipton, said: “The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) were first on the scene and airlifted him straight to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where he remained in an induced coma for seven days. Unfortunately he didn’t survive after everyone’s best efforts but if it wasn’t for the air ambulance acting as quickly and efficiently as they did he would never have stood a chance.”
