A 28-YEAR-OLD footballer who would have become a dad for the second time in September died during a routine operation from a rare condition which affects just one in 30,000 people.

Stuart Thompson's death from a cardiac arrest triggered by a reaction to anaesthetic while undergoing an appendix operation shocked his family, friends and team mates at the Turk's Head pub.

Andrea, his devoted "soul mate" and mother of their 19-month-old son, Harry, said life for the devoted family man, who ran his own air-conditioning business with his father, John, as a director, was blissful.

"He frequently remarked he was the happiest man in the world," she said.

"He was one in a million."

The couple were planning a fairy tale wedding in Dalhousie Castle, in Edinburgh, next year. Harry and the new baby were to be christened there at the same time.

Stuart, "Scooby" to his pals, was educated at Millfields, St John's, and South Bromsgrove High School.

His mum, Sue, from her family home in Buckfast Close, Friarscroft, Bromsgrove, said he went to Redditch's Alexandra Hospital on April 23 complaining of pains in his side. Appendicitis was diagnosed and the fateful operation was performed the following day.

"Doctors said his death was due to an allergic reaction to anaesthetic caused by a genetic disorder which affects one in 30,000 people," she said.

Stuart was superbly fit she added, and had recently been accepted for the Territorial Army.

Apart from playing football for the Worcester Road pub and being devoted to his family his main interest was fishing.

Sadly, a letter from the Pike Angling Club telling him he had won a best newcomer trophy arrived too late.

The landlady at the Turk's Head, Jill Reid, said many took time off work to console themselves.

On Sunday, players wearing the yellow strip he had sponsored observed a minutes' silence before the start of his team's Rose Bowl final against Boar's Head Exiles at the Valley Stadium, in Redditch. As a mark of respect the number five shirt worn by Stuart so often was left on the dressing room peg.

The funeral takes place this Friday at St John's Church, Bromsgrove, at 1.30pm followed by a family service at Redditch crematorium.

A hospital spokesman said: "The trust extends its sympathy to his family."