A grieving couple told how they happily chatted to their son on the phone before bed but were woken in the night by a very different call telling them he had suddenly died.
Dorothy and Alan Dews' life took a drastic turn when their 37-year-old son suffered cardiac arrest and sadly passed away in his sleep, leaving behind his wife and nine-year-old daughter.
Only a few hours earlier, the parents had their habitual daily phone call with their son, who was also called Alan.
He told them "love you, speak to you tomorrow" before hanging up.
But at 2.30am, his wife Kathryn had to make the hardest phone call of her life, telling Alan and Dorothy their son had died.
Alan, of Birmingham, had no history of heart disease and was a very active, healthy man. His death came as a complete shock to the family.
His grieving parents say they still haven't been able to bring themselves to read condolences cards sent to them, more than four years after his tragic death.
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He'd recently been helping his parents with their 40th wedding anniversary plans as well as organising a party for his own 10 wedding anniversary.
But tragically, the family instead had to organise Alan's funeral, telling his daughter Olivia her daddy had 'gone to heaven'.
A year after their son's death, in the midst of unimaginable grief, Dorothy, 66, and 68-year-old Alan became volunteers for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
They decided to help because 'they didn't want anyone else to go through what they had'.
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Speaking to Mirror Online, Dorothy said: "The night before [Alan's death] we had been on the phone – we had the most ridiculous and hilarious call.
"Alan was in hysterics because we'd broken down on the way to Norfolk and he and his dad were having banter about it. It was just a silly family moment that made us all laugh.
"At the end he said 'speak to you tomorrow, bye, love you' – the usual, that you take for granted.
"But at about 2.30am the phone rang.
"Kathryn said 'this is the most difficult, awful phone call I'm ever going to have to make. I'm so sorry but Alan has passed away'.
"We were just hysterical.
"'Alan has passed away' – those words – it's a nightmare. You just can't explain it or put it into words. It's the shock.
"The worst thing that came into my mind was 'I'm never going to see him again'. It's the worst feeling you can put onto anybody. Every person's worst nightmare. It was awful.
"The future just snapped away from you in the middle of the night."
Dorothy and Alan had seen their son around two weeks before his death at the local pub and said everything was fine and he was 'on form'.
It was approaching their 40th wedding anniversary and their son was organising everything. They said he was on the phone to them every day talking about plans.
Alan described his son as "really fit," saying he "liked football, golf, cricket. There was nothing amiss".
Dorothy added: "He was so full of energy and so full of life. He was a picture of health and fitness."
But it was while they were having a mini break in Norfolk that they received the devastating and shocking news.
"We were away in Norfolk at the time and we drove back in the morning. How Alan drove I'll never know," Dorothy said.
"We didn't know what to do but somehow we managed to pack up the caravan.
"It was a beautiful, sunny morning and there were little ducks toddling across the road. It was as if they had come to calm us down. As if Alan was saying 'drive home safely'.
"We got back to our house and there were friends outside waiting for us. They carried us through. We had the most amazing support."
But she added: "To this day we haven't read the cards – we have them all in a drawer. It's going to take the right moment when we sit down and read them and we haven't found that moment yet."
Alan was described by his parents as having the ability to light up a room just by walking into it.
He brought a smile to everyone's faces, they said.
"There was something about him. He was a cheeky chappy. This was confirmed by the hundreds of messages we received."
Before Alan's death he'd recently been away to London with his wife Kathryn, 41, and their daughter Olivia, nine, and they'd had a great time.
But Alan died on June 9, 2015, and his funeral took place a month later.
His father said: "The funeral was a whirlwind. There were hundreds of people there. Kathryn and Alan's close friends carried the coffin.
"Dorothy read out a poem and Kathryn did a speech. It was the most beautiful send off."
Olivia was only five at the time and knew her dad had gone to heaven, Dorothy said.
She continued: "Kathryn is an amazing mum to Olivia. She always said she's going to bring her up the way she and Alan had planned to.
"She told Olivia that daddy's heart was poorly and it was not working anymore. He had gone to sleep and gone to heaven.
"One day Olivia had a toy phone and said to me she had a message from Alan to say 'you're the best mum'."
Dorothy and Alan have been volunteering for the British Heart Foundation for the last three years as community fundraisers.
They have their own fundraising group and say "if we can save one life with the money we raise it is going to be worth it".
"The more we can raise the more research that can be done".
Dorothy and Alan have helped raise well over £32,000 to date in memory of their son, who they had a very close relationship with.
Volunteering for the BHF has helped them find the inner strength to turn their grief into something positive and find “a new normal.”
To volunteer at the British Heart Foundation, visit bhg.org.uk/volunteer
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