A DEVASTATED widow has encouraged people to live every day like it's their last after her "happily ever after" was tragically cut short.
Forming a relationship with Scott Hornsby seven years ago, Steph Hornsby said that the pair were so happy and had so much to look forward to.
With four children and four grandchildren between them, Scott and Steph tied the knot in September 2022 and the 50-year-old was described as an "amazing" dad and grandad who was always joking around.
Always reminding his wife how much he loved her, Scott's last words to Steph in person were "I love you, see you soon", before he suddenly and unexpectedly suffered a cardiac arrest inside a sunbed shop.
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The fatal incident took place inside Oasis Sun Centre on Monday, February 5, with police, paramedics, and an air ambulance seen outside the Parr Stocks Road sunbed shop.
Steph explained that although Scott had entered the sunbed, he had not yet switched it on, which is what alerted Oasis staff to a potential problem.
After Oasis staff quickly called for help, it was initially thought that Scott would survive as apart from his Crohn’s disease, which causes inflammation in the bowels, he was perfectly healthy.
However, the 50-year-old's condition took a turn for the worse in the intensive care unit as the cardiac arrest resulted in bronchopneumonia, which flooded his lungs with bacteria, as well as a lack of oxygen getting to his brain.
Speaking about the incident, Steph said: "It came completely out of the blue because we were laughing and joking earlier that day and he said 'I love you, see you later' before I left for work.
"We spoke on the phone at lunch and he text me saying he will be home after nipping on the sunbeds, so there were no signs of anything.
"If he wasn't feeling well he wouldn't have gone on the sunbeds and the doctors explained that it was a sudden death as a result of the cardiac arrest, which would have happened extremely fast.
"The girls in the sunbeds have been fantastic and they couldn't have done anything else. There wasn't a loud bang or anything, they just found him in a 'snoring' state after he didn't put the bed on."
Highlighting the respect that Scott had from those who knew him, he has also been described as a "wonderful and hardworking tradesman, valued friend, and a father figure" to colleagues at CFS Systems, who set up a fundraiser to support the family through this tough time.
Steph ran alongside many of these in this month's St Helens 10k, which helped to raise money for Scott's funeral, which took place on Friday, March 15.
This support from colleagues, friends, and family has been a real comfort for Steph, although she admitted it is still difficult to process the trauma of losing her husband without a goodbye.
Steph added: "I have had some really horrendous moments but it still doesn't feel real or that I have processed what's happened yet.
"We were just so happy and had so much to look forward to. All the kids and grandkids loved him to bits so we really were living our happily ever after.
"The grandkids are asking when is grandad Scott coming back so I don't think we'll ever really get over what has happened.
"It just shocks you because you never think something like this will happen to your family, so I can only say to live life to the full and live it like it's your last day because you never know what's around the corner."
To donate to the fundraiser set up by Scott's colleagues, you can do so here.
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