Father Of The Bride Had Heart Attack As He Rose To Give Wedding Speech

Father Of The Bride Had Heart Attack As He Rose To Give Wedding Speech

A proud father-of-the-bride died of a heart attack as he stood up to make his speech at his daughter's wedding.

Just hours earlier, Alan Bates, 65, had walked his daughter Charlotte (pictured above) down the aisle to marry husband Steve Galbraith.

He later rose to address guests at the reception at Craiglands Hotel in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, when he collapsed.

Charlotte, 36, was ushered from the room as friends fought to save her father's life until ambulances arrived.

Charlotte, her new husband and their two-year-old daughter Annabelle abandoned the wedding and rushed to Airedale Hospital, where Mr Bates was taken.

But the family, from Horsforth near Leeds, was told that nothing could be done for their father and grandfather.

Charlotte, who had been posing happily for pictures with Mr Bates moments before he died, said: "The most important thing was my dad walked me down the aisle and saw us get married."

The heartbroken daughter, who is now four months pregnant with her second child, said: "Everything was fine during the ceremony and the photos. We had drinks and canapes then we went in to sit down."

Speeches were held before the meal but as Mr Bates started to read his, 'he just stopped talking',

Charlotte said. "He fell to the floor and there was just screaming and panicking," she added.

"I got rushed out of the room by one of my best friends and was sitting in the foyer.

"I didn't know what was going on. I was just in stunned silence really. It was just devastating."

Charlotte said there was no question of them finishing the wedding as they had planned.

"'It just didn't seem that important," she said.

"Obviously it would have been lovely to have had an evening do, but at the end of the day, the most important thing was my dad walked me down the aisle and saw us get married, and that we are married."

The couple and wedding guests including their best man and two bridesmaids have now raised nearly £1,800 in a sponsored run to pay for a defibrillator.

They hope to install it at the training ground of Huddersfield Town FC in memory of Mr Bates, who died in October 2011, and who was a staunch supporter of the team.

The Craiglands Hotel insurance paid for a replacement defibrillator, because their equipment was nowhere to be found.

Although Charlotte doesn't believe a defibrillator could have saved her father, she hopes it can save others.

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