A GRIEVING father today told how his 30-year-old son would live on through others after his heart was donated to a young mother-of-two.

Lee Mulby died of a brain haemorrhage at the Royal Preston Hospital at 11.45am on Saturday..

He had collapsed in his house, in Emily Street, Burnley, a week earlier after working in his garden and his family believed he must have been suffering from heat exhaustion.

He never regained consciousness and was transferred from Burnley General Hospital to Preston a day later.

His father John Mulby, of Hollingreave Road, Burnley, said that although he, Lee's wife Lindsay, his two children, and the rest of the family were devastated by his sudden death it was a comfort to know his son had saved lives.

He said: "Lee had told Lindsay previously that if he ever ended up like that she should let them take what they wanted of his organs to save other people's lives. After a long hard think we all came to the decision that we should do as he wanted.

"Lindsay said it was definitely the right thing to do when they told her that his heart would be going to a 31-year-old mother-of-two. Just knowing someone else of a similar age also with two children was going to benefit meant a lot.

"I would encourage other people to think about donating organs without a doubt now."

Lee, who attended Burnley Wood Primary School and Towneley High School, worked as a team leader at central heating boiler firm Potterton Myson in Padiham.

He was a popular character in the Burnley Wood area. where he lived with his wife and two children Lynden, seven, and Tegan, one.

His father said he had been redesigning his garden shortly before he collapsed. Mr Mulby said: "I was looking after Tegan for the day and Lynden was playing out on his bicycle and was with his dad.

"Lee had dug up about three tonnes of soil and it was a hot day. When he went into the house he collapsed in the hall.

"His wife is a hairdresser and when she came home from work she found him on the floor. Lynden had seen his dad on the floor and thought he was asleep, so he had put a blanket over him which I told him had been a good thing to do. Luckily Tegan was with us.

"The doctor said it could have happened to anyone. It was a vessel in his brain that just burst.

"He was a big strapping lad, 6ft 2in and healthy as far as we knew. He had a lot of good friends and four of them, Stacky, Sid, Jay and Lanky, will be pallbearers along with myself and his uncle Tony.

"I am going to finish his garden off for him and his mates, who used to be known as Mulby's Mob, have decided to buy a bench to go in his garden instead of flowers, which is a lovely idea."

Lee leaves his mum and dad, Maureen and John, 23-year-old sister Zoe, wife Lindsay and two children.

Mr Mulby said: "Tegan is missing him now because the last few days he had been at home doing a lot of work and she had been with him."

The funeral will take place at St Catherine's Church, Todmorden Road, on Saturday, at 11am, followed by a cremation in Burnley at 11.30am. His family and friends will then go to the Royal Butterfly pub, in Hufling Lane, which was his local.

His family have asked that people do not send flowers for the funeral but suggested a plant for the garden instead.