A newly-engaged Angus woman who died after falling ill on holiday in Spain will be laid to rest today.
Kelsey Jane Allan, 25, was enjoying her first holiday abroad in Mallorca with fiance Marc Scott when she developed a chest infection just before they were due to fly home.
The Montrose barmaid began being sick days after getting back and she was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee by ambulance.
Kelsey suffered from gastroparesis a condition that can cause sickness due to food passing through the stomach too slowly between the ages of 16 and 22.
She developed pneumonia, but doctors had been pleased with her progress until she suddenly stopped breathing on April 19.
Marc, who proposed to Kelsey in September, said: “She had been OK at the time. I only went out to get some juice and when I came back she had stopped breathing and was on a ventilator.
“They spent two-and-a-half hours on her performing CPR and trying everything they could to revive her, but it just didn’t work.”
Marc, Kelsey’s mum Nicola Allan, 44, and step-dad Drew McDonald, 37, didn’t want an autopsy performed on Kelsey, but doctors believe she died after a blood clot travelled from her leg to her lung.
The family said Kelsey had struggled while dealing with gastroparesis when she was younger, but for the last three years had grown in confidence as the condition stopped affecting her as much.
The former Montrose Academy pupil had held down a job as a barmaid at Steeplejacks pub on the town’s High Street as well as working shifts at Semichem. She had also moved in with Marc and the couple were planning to get married in the near future.
Marc, who works as a roofer, said they had been together for about three years and they were going to be looking at wedding arrangements when they got back from Spain.
He said: “It was actually our first holiday together and it was her first trip abroad since she was about seven.
“We were really excited before we went and we had a great time. It’s all been such a shock.
“She will be sorely missed by everyone. She was just a really cheeky character and very strong-willed.”
Kelsey’s mum Nicola said that her daughter had come out of her shell a little over the last couple of years.
She said: “Her confidence was really knocked by it all, but she got over the worst of it and although the doctors said it would come back again, she had three good years without too many problems.
“Perhaps all the sickness took its toll on her body, but we never expected this to happen.”
Kelsey’s funeral will take place at the Congregational Church in Montrose at 1.30pm.