A GRIEVING widow is trying to come to terms with the death of her husband from a heart attack just 10 months after they wed.

Gerald Slevin, known as Ged had been shopping at the Asda superstore in Accrington on Sunday morning when he was taken ill.

After phoning his wife, Heather, the 35-year-old rang an ambulance while Mrs Slevin rushed from her job as a care worker to be with him.

He was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary but attempts to resuscitate him failed. Mr Slevin, who stood just 5ft 2in, was a former pupil at Mount Carmel RC High School, Wordsworth Road, Accrington.

The couple met after they were introduced by Mrs Slevin's sister and were married at Cannon Street Baptist Church last June, where Mr Slevin's funeral service will take place at 10.30am on Thursday.

He worked as a merchandiser for Rists Wires until it closed and was working for NRS Retail at the time of his death.

"I'm on auto pilot. I feel as if I have been robbed," said Mrs Slevin, of Lincoln Court, Church.

"He was not overweight. He was little but he was strong."

The couple, who neighbours referred to as the newly-weds, spent a lot of time apart because of Mr Slevin's work but were in telephone contact several times a day when he was away.

He had even bought his wife a gold heart-shaped bracelet for Easter and left it with her 19-year-old daughter Joanne.

"Knowing Ged he would have teased me all week and pretended to have forgotten, then he would have brought me breakfast in bed and given me the present," said Mrs Slevin, 43.

"He used to leave love notes around the house and I would find them days later when he was working away.

"He would ring me and text me several times a day while he was away."

A keen Chelsea fan, Mr Slevin played football for the Castle pub, Eastgate, Accrington.

He played pool for the Miners Arms, Blackburn Road, Accrington.

The funeral service will be followed by cremation at Accrington.