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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Charlotte Hadfield & Robert Dalling

Dad tragically dies of heart attack on ferry heading to Wales with his children

A dad-of-five tragically died whilst travelling with his son and daughter on a ferry heading to Wales. Jon Morley and his two children had boarded a Stena Line service heading to Holyhead from Dublin when he died 20 minutes into the journey.

The family had been travelling to Liverpool to visit friends in the city on April 8 when the 52-year-old, described as a "family man at heart" suddenly passed away. It had been considered "out of the blue" as those closest to him felt he was "fit and healthy."

The 52-year-old's family described his death as "completely out of the blue" and said he was seemingly "fit and healthy". Mr Morley leaves behind four sons and a daughter.

READ MORE: Heartbreak as 'amazing' dad, 35, dies suddenly from blood clot

Brother-in-law Dave Herron told The Liverpool Echo : "He was living in Dublin after spending many years in Liverpool and he was bringing his two children to visit friends in Liverpool on the Stena Line, and he was feeling a bit tired so he sort of decided to have a sleep."

Mr Morley's daughter, who is in her early teens, tried to wake him up when she made the heartbreaking discovery that he had died in his sleep. A post-mortem carried out by a coroner in north Wales found Mr Morley, who worked as a tiler, had died of a heart attack and heart failure.

Mr Herron added: "He was a good guy, family orientated. In his younger years he was the life and soul of the party but as you get older you [are not] the life and soul of the party. He was one of those guys that if you needed a favour, if he could help you out he would. He was a family man at heart.

"It came completely out of the blue. He seemed fit and healthy. [The family] are absolutely devastated. It absolutely came as a shock. We knew he was going to Liverpool for a couple of days with the kids to see friends but this is the last thing we would have expected."

A Gofundme page has been set up with the hopes of helping his family cover the costs of his funeral. You can donate by clicking here. Get all of our latest updates sent straight to your inbox with our free newsletters here.

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