Family members have paid tribute to a young dad and popular local figure who died after suffering a severe asthma attack.

Friendship - a glass of beer in flowers, above, was among memorial tributes Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

They said Carl Miller, 24, of Ashdene Close, Hullbridge, was a kind, fun-loving lad who would go out of his way to help people.

Carl died last week after he got home from his job as a train engineer at the railway depot in Seven Kings.

He had always suffered from asthma. On July 27, arriving at his parents' home, where he lived, he told brother Ian he couldn't breathe.

Ian, 20, said he wasn't worried at first because it had happened before.

Ian said: "When he was having his attack I still wasn't panicking. It was only when he stopped breathing I became worried."

Ian dialled 999 and was given instructions to give his brother resuscitation while paramedics were on their way. But it was to no avail.

Carl's lung had collapsed and his heart was affected. As his mother, Chris, 51, and father, Mick, 61, arrived home from work, they discovered what had happened.

Mrs Miller said her son's death had come as a complete shock. She said: "We knew he had asthma but we didn't think it could cause something like this to happen."

Mr Miller said: "We are still getting over it. We have lost a quarter of our family."

Carl married at the age of 17 and his son, James, was born in the same year. He and his wife separated when he was 19, but he doted on his son and met him regularly.

A big fan of Tottenham Hotspur, he was a year away from completing a four-year engineering apprenticeship.

Flowers for Carl have been laid at the war memorial in Hullbridge and his colleagues at Seven Kings plan to erect a plaque for him at the train depot.

Published Friday August 6, 2004

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