A FATHER has spoken of his family's shock after waking to find his 31-year-old son had died in his sleep.

Will Clarke

A FATHER has spoken of his family's shock after waking to find his 31-year-old son had died in his sleep.

Adam Lloyd had been living at the family home in Bury St Edmunds with parents Max and Christine Lloyd as he recovered from a major heart operation during the summer.

He had made good progress but died unexpectedly during the night on November 10 from a brain haemorrhage.

Mr Lloyd said the loss had come as a complete shock and the family had every belief he would recover from the heart operation.

The only indication they had that something was untoward was that the 31-year-old had complained of a headache before going to bed.

He said: “It was thought he was on the mend, even after all the surgery he was coping well. It was terrible.

“His death has come as a complete shock - there was no way you could tell there was a brain haemorrhage on the way.

“He didn't have a chance to say goodbye. His mother went in to wake him in the morning and start a normal day but he had just passed away. It was very peaceful.

“She called me at work and by the time I got home the police and ambulance were already there. The police, ambulance and Fulchers undertakers were very sympathetic.

“We are just coming to terms with it now.”

The 31-year-old nearly died three years ago after he suffered an aneurism and was airlifted to Papworth Hospital, in Cambridgeshire. There, surgeons operated for 11 hours to save his life, replacing a ruptured valve.

Then in April this year the former print worker underwent surgery to replace his aorta with part of his stomach.

Doctors kept him unconscious for about two-and-a-half months, before he was discharged on July 4.

Adam, who has two older sisters, Rosalind and Hayley, and two older brothers, Heath and Jason, was raised in Africa where he developed a love of the wildlife and landscape.

In 1996, the family moved to Bury and for three years Adam played the tenor drum in the Glenmoriston Pipe Band where his father and brothers are still members.

Adam had worked at Music Sales in Bury since 2003 where managers paid tribute to an intelligent and hard working employee.

His funeral took place at West Suffolk Crematorium, in Risby, on Friday. Donations in lieu of flowers should be sent to the East Anglian Air Ambulance, c/o Fulchers Funeral Directors, in Bury.