The wife of Bay City Roller legend Alan Longmuir has told how his death left her ‘devastated’ - and revealed he spent his final hours with his bandmate Les McKeown.
Alan passed away aged 70 on July 2, 2018, with his family by his side after he fell seriously ill in Mexico where he was on holiday with his wife Eileen.
Eileen told how he was rushed back to Scotland after asking to ‘go home’.
Medics in Mexico told Eileen the only thing that could help Alan was a liver transplant but that with his age and medical history there was ‘no hope’.
They decided to fly him back to Scotland but on the journey home his condition got worse.
They wanted to land the air ambulance in Iceland to get him to hospital, but Alan said no and that he ‘want to go home’.
Eileen, who married Alan in 1998, revealed how his passing left her ‘devastated’ and that she is amazed by the ongoing love and admiration for her ‘soulmate’.
Eileen said: “It was devastating. I don’t know where I got the strength from to get through that time.
“We were stuck in Mexico. I wasn’t allowed to leave Alan’s room, I think they were afraid I might take off and leave him with no means of payment for his treatment.
“I had nobody to turn to until I managed to get hold to my son.
“I had to ask to explore selling our house to meet the mounting medical bills.
“I didn’t realise how ill he was and was convinced they could save him until the Doctor said the only thing that could help was a liver transplant.
“But that at his age and with his medical history, two heart attacks and a stroke, there was no hope of that happening.
“That was when our thinking changed and Alan just wanted to get back to Scotland.
“From then, it was about getting him well enough for the journey home.
“On the journey home his condition got worse - they even wanted to land the air ambulance in Iceland to get him to hospital but he said, ‘No, I want to go home’.”
By the time Alan arrived at Forth Valley Hospital the family were asked to gather by his bed.
Although medical staff didn’t expect him to make it through the night, he fought on for another three weeks.
He spent some of his final hours with Bay City Rollers band-mate Les McKeown and his wife Peko.
Eileen said: “Les and Peko flew up to see him and came straight from the airport to the hospital.
“We knew every day was a bonus and it was only a matter of time.
“They sat with Alan and the family throughout the Saturday and Sunday and Alan died at 6am on the Monday morning.”
The bass guitarist formed the Bay City Rollers with brother Derek and went on to find huge chart success and sold more than 120 million records worldwide.
Life without Alan has been difficult Eileen said, but told how her pets got her through the early grieving process.
She said: “I had to walk Minnie and Elza, our dogs, that was what got me out of bed in the morning for the first few months.
“It was really hard to start with but I just know he is here with me.
“Even the other day, when I was out with pals, I cracked a joke and was just about to say, ‘If Alan could hear me now...’ when I felt a tap on my back.
“I jumped up, turned around but there was no one there, just a wall behind me. I know that was him.”
Alan’s autobiography was published posthumously, but Eileen said it took her a while to read.
She said: “It took me a long time to read the book manuscript.
“Every time I picked it up I had to put it down again. It was too soon.
“I read it properly when it was published and that was when I discovered he had dedicated it to me calling me ‘his soulmate’.
“The memorial bench was a lovely thing for fans to do, it’s engraved with the words, ‘Alan Longmuir. The Original Bay City Roller. Don’t Let the Music Die.’
“Often I just sit there and usually there are lots of little fox and rabbit footprints and the fans leave gifts, flowers, toys, angels, candles, things like that.
“It’s comforting to know he is not forgotten.
“I just ask that visitors are respectful and aware of their surroundings.”
She has been invited to march as a guest of honour in this year’s Tartan Day Parade in New York, in memory of legendary Edinburgh pop star.
Looking ahead to her trip this April, she said: “I get so emotional when I think about it; being able to honour Alan in this way.
“It’s four years now since he left us and people have remembered him.
“Just to walk down Sixth Avenue in his name.
“God, can you imagine how proud he would be? He was such a humble man but I think he’d be sitting up there saying, ‘I can’t quite believe this is happening’.”
“I never expected the love for Alan to carry on as long as it has.
“I thought that within a year he would be forgotten, but he hasn’t been.
“Alan’s favourite song was Don’t Let The Music Die, with all the love that is still out there for him and the band he started all those years ago, I don’t think the music of the Bay City Rollers will ever die.”
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