The family of a Martlesham man have paid tribute to their loving, hardworking son, partner and father, who died suddenly aged 36.

Shane Little was working full time and living with his partner, daughter and stepson, when he began suffering abdominal pain in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, September 3.

Scarcely 24 hours later, Shane had died.

His father, Robert Little, said that Shane was a fit and healthy man, who was getting ready to begin his dream job in animal care.

“Shane was working on the Friday, and he was fine,” said Mr Little, 65. “But he started saying he didn’t feel well in the early hours of Saturday morning, so his partner took him to A&E.”

Shane’s partner, who asked not to be named, called his parents at 8am from Ipswich hospital, and they made their way there as quickly as they could.

“When we arrived, he was barely conscious, barely coherent, and he was being violently sick,” Mr Little said.

“He was clutching his right side, his lower abdomen, every time he was sick, and he was in excruciating pain. I could see from his face.”

Mr Little said that staff at Ipswich hospital carried out tests, and that Shane was placed on a drip of paracetamol. He was discharged at around 11am, with doctors querying that he may have viral gastroenteritis.

However, Mr Little received another call from Shane’s partner at around 2am on Sunday morning, to say that Shane had collapsed.

His partner explained that she had been sitting up with Shane, who was still unwell. She left him in the kitchen while she went to take their daughter to bed, and told Shane not to try to stand until she had returned.

However, she heard him fall and ran back downstairs to find him on the kitchen floor. She called an ambulance.

“Within five, maybe 10 minutes, his heart had stopped,” said Mr Little.

“The paramedics tried their damnedest to save him, but they couldn’t.”

He said that Shane’s whole family are struggling to process his loss.

“He was just about to start his dream job. He was a kennel man, working at a kennel near Easton. He did a lot of maintenance inside and outside. He was so hardworking,” he said.

“He was just about to start training to become the kennel manager. He always loved animals.”

Mr Little said that the family has been inundated with messages of condolences and sympathy from people who knew and loved Shane.

“Everybody has shown so much love, love for him as a person,” he said. “It’s been overwhelming.”

Shane’s family have raised concerns regarding his care with ESNEFT’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service.

Dr Angela Tillett is Chief Medical Officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Ipswich Hospital.

She said: “We would like to extend our deepest and sincerest condolences to Robert Little and his family at this very sad time.

“Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team has been contacted by members of Shane’s family and we are now supporting them through our formal complaints process.

“Until we have properly investigated their concerns about Shane’s care and treatment at Ipswich Hospital and shared the outcome of those investigations with them, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”