A talented chef tragically died from a brain tumour after going to bed with a headache.

Dan Daughtery suddenly collapsed at his home just hours after finishing work in a busy restaurant kitchen.

Devastated friends and family have paid tribute to the 29-year-old “gentle giant”, who had been planning a surprise trip to Paris to propose to his long-term girlfriend.

A gifted cook, Mr Daughtery worked at the Amex stadium and the Pavilion ice rink in Brighton before becoming head chef at the Beach House restaurant in Shoreham.

MORE:

On Sunday morning he told his partner he felt sick and was planning to spend an extra hour in bed at their Shoreham home.

But when she returned to their bedroom after making a cup of tea, she found Mr Daughtery semi-conscious and struggling to breathe.

Paramedics rushed to the couple's home and managed to keep Mr Daughtery's heart beating before taking him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

However on arrival doctors decided there was little hope of keeping him alive, and the former Kings Manor pupil was declared dead the next day.

Scans revealed a huge undetected tumour at the top of Mr Daugherty's spine that had grown so large it had crushed his brain stem, sending him into immediate cardiac arrest.

His partner Sophie Witham, 25, said Mr Daughtery was a “lovely, passionate and thoughtful man” who had been taken from her “too soon”.

She said: “Dan was gentle, full of fun and he always had time for everybody.

“He was so hard-working and he didn't deserve this.

“He was the love of my life and I can't believe he's gone.”

In the two weeks leading up to his collapse, Mr Daughtery's mother Glyn told how her son had been complaining of headaches but was told by his GP that he only needed an eye test.

She said: “No one could have known Dan had this huge tumour. He didn't even know himself.

“The main thing is that we have lost our lovely boy, who was such a loving, caring person. For such a short life, he touched so many people.”

Mrs Daughtery revealed her son, who loved going to music festivals with his friends, had been planning a romantic trip to Paris to propose to his partner Sophie.

She said: “They were just totally devoted to each other. Even after so long together, they still used to hold hands on the sofa.

“So he was planning to take her over to Paris to pop the question. It's just so sad that he never got the chance.”

Before his death, Mr Daughtery signed a form which allowed all his organs to be donated to help others.

Doctors told his mother his body parts could be used to save the lives of up to 26 people.

Mrs Daughtery said: “He's given the chance of life to so many.

“They had to keep him on the ventilator for ages, which was heartbreaking, but at least we know some good has come out of this.

“They took most of his organs except his eyes. I just couldn't let them take his eyes.”