A fit and healthy football coach died suddenly after collapsing on a long-haul flight to England from Singapore.

Matt Milne, 43, was a football coach, software programmer, and bar owner from Whitstable who suffered a fatal blood clot in his leg midflight on his way home from vacation in Singapore.

While off-duty paramedics on the plane immediately tended to the man, Matt could not be saved and he was pronounced dead at the hospital after the aircraft landed.

After the shocking turn of events, it was revealed that the under-14s team coach was happily married to wife Francesca with whom he shared two young children including son Will, 13, and daughter Annabel, 10.

“Matt was just an amazing husband and dad. He had never had any health problems and was reasonably fit, so it has come as a huge shock,” the grieving wife said.

“He traveled overseas quite often with his work, especially before the pandemic, and was on his way home from Singapore when it happened.

“I found out when a policeman arrived at our door at 8 am on Saturday morning to tell me he had been taken ill from the plane at Heathrow and I needed to travel to Hillingdon Hospital. But when I got there, he was already gone. The doctors said he’d suffered a thrombosis during the flight which had traveled to his lung.”

Francesca went on to say that her heart is now “utterly broken” and that their children were “devastated” by the news.

“We will all miss Matt every second of every day for the rest of our lives. He had the biggest heart in the entire world and was loved so much by the three of us, his parents, all his family and his friends,” she concluded.

Our thoughts remain with Matt’s loved ones during this challenging time.