“Cheers for the lift love,” Henry Nagai said to his fiancé Kelly Orford as he climbed out of her car. “I’ll see you later.”
He gave her one last kiss and closed the door behind him. Kelly watched him for a moment as he walked towards his office. She never saw him alive again.
Henry, known lovingly as Henz, was found unconscious at his job as a security guard in the early hours of August 26. Paramedics fought to save him but he pronounced dead at the scene. He was just 43-years-old.
Now time has stopped for Kelly, who says she will never smile the same again. “Part of me has gone with him,” she said. We loved each other more than anything. I’m utterly devastated. Life isn’t the same.
“I miss him so much and the last few weeks have been absolute hell. His children are broken; we are lost without this amazing man. I’d do anything to have him back.”
IT consultant Kelly, who lives in Stretford with their children Mekhi, 10 and Kaian, five, says alarm bells started to ring when her text messages went unanswered throughout the evening of August 25.
The 40-year-old last received a message from Henry at 6.14pm. Kelly sent one final text at around 8pm before going to sleep shortly after. Nine hours later, police officers were stood at her front door.
“Police woke me up at 3.50am,” she continued. “They came into my home and told me he had passed away.
“At first, I didn’t believe it. It’s like my whole world fell apart. He was found unconscious in work and they weren't able to bring him back to life.
“Paramedics pronounced him dead at 12.25am, but I know in my heart he died on Thursday the 25th because he never went an hour without checking in on me or the kids. In 13 years, we’ve never gone more than an hour without some sort of communication.”
While police have ruled out any suspicious circumstances surrounding Henry’s death, Kelly still doesn’t know how he died. A post-mortem examination came back inconclusive and the devastated family are still waiting on tissue samples and a toxicology report. The results could take months.
“He’s still in the mortuary,” Kelly added. “They’ll issue an interim death certificate so we can have a funeral but it could be months before we have answers. I just want to know what happened to my soulmate.”
Sadly, Henry did not have a will or a life insurance policy in place at the time of his death, leaving Kelly in financial difficulty. Kelly is now struggling to find the funds to hold a funeral.
Due to the fact they weren't married, she can't yet receive bereavement and widowed parent support payments from the Department for Work and Pensions. The law is set to change - but hasn't been finalised yet, which Kelly describes as 'archaic'.
“Henry didn’t know he was going to die at 43,” she continued. “He had no life insurance, plans, nothing. We loved each other with everything – more than most married couples I know."
“I can’t grieve because I have two boys to take care of. Kaian’s birthday is forever tarnished by his dad dying. He died two days after his fifth birthday. Then the added stress of a funeral that I have to find money for – it's too much.
“The boys are struggling immensely. Mekhi can barely function; he’s crying a lot and struggling to understand. Kaian is too young and keeps asking me when daddy will be alive again to come home. He doesn’t understand the finality of death.
“From the moment I found out, it's been like a dream. The only way I can describe it is that scene from The Matrix where everything around is moving at pace but I'm slowly just trying to get through the day.”
Kelly met Henry on Facebook 13 years ago when she posted lots of items for sale. When Henry spotted Kelly in a local group, he reached out to her with a “cheeky” message. It didn’t take long for Kelly to become hooked on his “funny, kind and genuine character”.
A music lover, Henry had once been in a boy band in his younger days and regularly wrote songs dedicated to Kelly. He also loved to cook, with any recipe he put his hand to turning out “perfectly”.
“Anyone who met Henz was touched by him in some way,” Kelly continued. “He had time for everyone and always tried to help where he could. He was just a very humble, genuine and really funny guy.
“He just loved his family – me, the kids and anything that involved us. He loved holidays. His favourite place was a little cabin we visited on the Jurassic Coast. He couldn’t wait to go back next year and spoke about it all the time.
“He would be so proud that Mekhi has taken performing to a level he didn’t as Mekhi is a young actor. He will be in a show with Simon Bird later this year when it airs. He’d be gutted to miss it.
“I always said to Henry I'd live on the streets with just a cardboard box for shelter as long as I had him. I don't care about anything I just want him back.
“I just want to be able to grieve but I feel numb and empty. I don’t think I can do this without him. It’s like nails being driven into my heart and aggressively pulled out again. It hurts so bad.
“He is the only man I ever truly loved. My absolute world. I am struggling to process life without him. It feels like it happened yesterday, yet it was three weeks ago. Time makes no sense. He was 43, I'm widowed at 40. On what planet is this okay?”
A family friend has set up a fundraiser to help Kelly, Mekhi and Kaian financially through this devastating time. To donate, follow the link by clicking here .
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "In relation to unmarried couples we are finalising legislation to extend eligibility to Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance to bereaved cohabitees with dependent children who were living with their partner on the date of death. We hope to make these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows."
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