By Cheryl Wood

A BRIDE-TO-BE who was counting down the days to her wedding has died suddenly after suffering a blood clot and tumbling down the stairs at her home.

Jill Hunter (30), of Ladybank, Fife, was to marry fiance Scott Bye (36) in eight weeks.

Instead she will be cremated next week in the wedding dress she had bought for her big day.

The community nurse, who was studying for an HNC in nursing at Adam Smith College, in Glenrothes, and worked at Auchtermuchty Health Centre, died in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, on Sunday.

She had been struggling for breath since a week past Wednesday and last Saturday, when she attended the annual pageant in Ladybank, had been struggling to walk round the park.

On Saturday evening she and Scott, a ventilation engineer from Glenrothes, had enjoyed a night out together.

The following morning Jill, a teetotal, took a dizzy spell after getting out of bed and fell down the stairs at the home the couple shared with her father Ian.

She died two hours later in hospital.

A post mortem examination concluded she had suffered a blood clot in her leg, which had travelled to her lungs.

Jill, whose mother Susan died of cancer seven years ago, was described as a bubbly personality, one of life’s real characters.

She was excitedly planning her wedding, which was to take place on August 16 at the registrar’s office in Glenrothes, followed by a reception in the masonic hall in Ladybank.

Jill, who planned to go to university in September, was also in the middle of sitting exams and had already received at least two merit results.

Ian Hunter told of his daughter’s excitement about her forthcoming wedding and how she had already bought her dream dress.

He said she was dedicated to her work and her studies and before embarking on a career with the health service had been a carer for Fife Council.

He said, “She was very jolly. She would do anything for people, especially old people in the community.

“She was always on the go. She was always doing something, lately it was college work. She would sit up late working away.”

Jill, who had two brothers, Andrew and Graeme, went to the local primary school before attending Bell Baxter High School in Cupar.

Her funeral takes place in Ladybank on Tuesday.