Man dies on ‘holiday of a lifetime’ after falling ill on plane to his wedding | UK News

A dad died on Christmas day just days before he was due to marry his long-term partner on their dream holiday in Australia.

Jeff Walker, 57, fell ill during his flight from Dubai to Perk on December 22 and collapsed outside the plane’s toilets.

He was hoping for a hoping for the ‘holiday of a lifetime’ with his fiancé Donna Jones after they had to delay their wedding in 2020 dued to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jeff was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, and passed away three days later on December 25.

Donna is now stranded in Australia after Emirates Airlines dialled back on a promise to switch their flights home to Blackpool.

Shesaid: ‘We were supposed to come three year’s ago to see his [Jeff’s] son, but obviously Covid stopped that from happening.-

‘We just decided in the summer, that’s it, we’re going to get married whilst we’re there.’

A date was set and on December 18, 2023 the couple, as well as Donna’s 14-year-old son Aaron, flew out from Manchester and spent three days holidaying in Dubai.

Jeff appeared to be in good health in the weeks leading up to his death, even swimming 10K a day to raise money for cancer after his cousin’s nephew was died from leukaemia 20 years ago.

‘I was devastated,’ Donna recalls. ‘They just told us he was very poorly and they were going to take him straight to intensive care.

‘At that point, they asked us to get the marriage celebrant to the hospital to get us married as soon as possible. They told us to go out and enjoy Australia and to give my son the best holiday he could have.

‘Nobody actually gave us a timescale, they just said it was serious.’

Donna says she was assured by Emirates her flights were transferred so she and her son could fly back home from Perth as they were unable to make it to their original destination of Sydney.

‘They agreed and said they’d full refund Jeff’s ticket which, at the time, I wasn’t even thinking that. I was just thinking of getting home from here,’ she said.

But calling the airline before the flight date of January 9, Donna says Emirates refused to speak with her ‘as the booking was done through a travel agent’.

On the day of Jeff’s funeral which was held in Perth, Donna was told it would cost a further £1,300 to get home and an additional £1,700 for Conner, Jeff’s son who lived out in Australia, to fly home with them, despite paying £9,200 for their original flights.

‘Months ago we had already paid, depends which way you look at it now, but the holiday of a lifetime of getting married,’ Donna said. ‘We had already paid out around £20,000.

‘We had £5,000 to spend over here, whilst we were here to do everything and really make it special for all of us. Of course, that money’s gone now on having to have him [Jeff] cremated.’

Donna is now waiting for Jeff’s death certificate to arrive, before she is able to make arrangements for her journey back to the UK.

Emirates has been contacted for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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