US boyfriend dies days before UK trip

A mum’s online love affair ended in tragedy when her partner dropped dead days before they were set to meet for the first time.

Heartbroken Helen Hunter had a two-year virtual romance with Jack Dean Martin, from Arkansas in the US.

They planned their future together with Jack, 58, set to fly to the UK at the beginning of this month to begin their fairytale ending.

But a few weeks before the former soldier was due to visit, he died of a heart attack. Helen, 43, met Jack for the first and last time in his coffin.

Helen, from Sunderland, said: “He looked like he was smiling. I gave him a few kisses, stroked his face and held his hand.

“Looking back, I just wish we hadn’t waited so long. And I feel cheated that we won’t get to live the life we had planned together.”

Helen and Jack met on image- collecting site Pinterest in May 2015. She wasn’t looking for romance but Jack bowled her over.

She said: “We had a mutual love of horror f i lms, tat toos and photography. We started off liking each other’s pictures then there would be the odd comment and then we began messaging each other.

“We would chat and chat. We became Facebook friends and Jack then plucked up the courage to ask for my number.

“He later admitted he never thought I’d reply to his very first message, he said he thought I was out of his league.

“But within a couple of months, we

I just wish we hadn’t waited so long. I feel cheated that we don’t get to live life we wanted

were chatting every morning and night on the phone and we would constantly be texting each other.”

Helen had worked front of house in a theatre for 22 years but had to quit to become a full-time carer for her mum Amber, who died of cancer in January, aged 75. Jack became her rock.

She said: “I felt like I knew Jack inside out although I hadn’t met him.

“We had a lot in common. I’m divorced with a son, Karl, 21, and he’d been married, too, with a daughter Nicole, 22, and a stepson Steven, 38.”

Jack became Helen’s “Magic Man” and she, in return, was “Jack’s Girl” – which she has tattooed on her back.

She said: “I had no doubts about it being a long- distance relationship because I knew we would be together.

“We were a couple even though we weren’t together physically. My friends and family didn’t express any doubts