A YOUNG woman who was waiting for a life saving transplant died suddenly before she had the chance to marry her fiance.

And tragically bubbly Simone Martin died in Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, five years after her father 42-year-old David suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage.

The 24-year-old was told she had a rare heart and lung complaint 10 years ago and always knew she would have to undergo a transplant operation.

Her aim was to marry fiance Clive Meadowcroft, 21, before the critical operation.

The couple met almost three years ago and lived in Prospect Street, Great Harwood. Simone worked in the telephone sales department of a Church cleaning products manufacturer.

Mum Valerie Martin, of Hope Street, Great Harwood, said: "We always knew that Simone would eventually need a transplant but this has come as a great shock to all of us.

"Simone was restricted in some ways but she was a bright, happy person who never complained about a thing. "She had been ill since before Christmas and she went into hospital last Tuesday for tests because she had started deteriorating.

"She was having tests and her condition just got worse and worse."

Mrs Martin said Simone knew she would have to have the transplant soon and she always said she wanted to get married before that happened.

"It was a security thing, it was just what she wanted," she said.

"When she died on Friday we were all devastated. It just came so suddenly and we weren't expecting it."

Simone was the oldest of four children and the family have asked for all donations to got to cardiac unit in Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where she was treated for more than a decade.

Mrs Martin added: "Simone had a lovely sense of humour and she loved her work. It was what she lived for.

"Dr Myers, the specialist who treated her for all those years, said she was always cheerful and happy.

"He said in all the years she was ill, Simone never complained about a thing."

The Martin family are holding a celebration of Simone's life on Thursday before cremation at Accrington.

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