Heartbroken wife pays tribute to ‘lovely’ husband
MUCH-LOVED TONY ‘HAD A HEART OF GOLD’, SHE SAYS
A LOVING wife has paid tribute to her late husband, who had a “heart of gold” and “would do anything for anybody”.
Tony David Gray was 45 when he suffered a suspected cardiac arrest and collapsed at home in Mansfield on November 12.
He was a “much-loved” member of staff at West Nottinghamshire College in Mansfield, working in the post room and as a minibus driver for 17 years.
He met Lorraine in 1999 and they reconnected at the beginning of the lockdown in 2020. They got married on July 2 this year.
Tony suffered from asthma and stage three kidney failure, but would “put everybody before himself” even when ill.
However, Lorraine said his health “took a dive” when his mother was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Tony, Lorraine and Lorraine’s son Jack, 21, had many plans that, sadly, have now been “snatched off us.” Tony also had an eight-year-son, Tristan.
Lorraine, 43, said: “I met Tony back in 1999. We ran into each other in a pub.
“We did see each other for a while but it kind of fizzled out. But at the start of Covid, March 2020, I sent a friend request to Tony and all the way through the lockdown we were just talking nonstop on Messenger.
“And then the day that we had the unlock, July 4, we met up and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We were literally on the phone from the minute we got up, because he obviously couldn’t work because the college was shut down, until one o’clock the following morning.
“He was absolutely lovely. He suffered with a few health issues. He had asthma, stage three kidney disease and last year he nearly died with pneumonia. But he had a heart of gold – he would do anything for anyone. Even when he was ill he just put everybody before himself.
“As he got older the kidney disease didn’t really cause him any issues. But his mum got told at the end of September that she only had weeks left to live.
“She got leukaemia and within three weeks of being told she had that she passed away on October 20. And at the point of him being told that his mum was dying his health seemed to take a dive.
“He’d been off work for about five weeks. We thought it was just his asthma and that he was irritated with all the stress.
“He tried to go back to work last Monday but his boss sent him home because he was struggling with his breath. As the week progressed he had improved.
“But then, just Saturday evening, he walked into the kitchen, gave me a cuddle and went to take some bottles and cans out to the bin outside the back door and came in and said he felt really light-headed and dizzy.
“So I told him to go and sit down and then next minute I heard this massive bang and he had collapsed on the floor.
“He was literally out of it for a couple of seconds, but he asked me to get his blue inhaler for him when he came round, which I did. He also had a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, so I got him that.
“We ended up with two ambulances who worked on him for 45 minutes, but they just couldn’t bring him back.
“We were planning on getting his mum’s funeral done today, then taking my son to the Winter Wonderland in Nottingham tomorrow, and then putting the Christmas decorations up at the weekend.”
Andrew Cropley, principal and chief executive of West Nottinghamshire College, said: “The entire college community is shocked and deeply saddened by Tony’s passing. Tony was a very well-known and much-loved member of our team. He had worked with us for 17 years in our post room and was also a very popular minibus driver. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he will be sorely missed by us all.”
A crowdfunding page has been set up to help pay for Tony’s funeral at gofundme.com/f/tony-gray-visionwest-nottinghamshire-college?utm_ campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_ medium=copy_link&utm_ source=customer