"He is irreplaceable": Tributes paid to popular Leeds Council engineer who suddenly died from suspected heart attack

Eugene Terblanche, 47, died on Saturday (April 25) after suffering what is believed to be a cardiac arrest - his work colleague and close friend Simon Harrison told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Eugene - an IT engineer for Leeds council - was described by Simon as an 'exceptionally gifted' worker whose 'intelligence, technical aptitude and acumen for his work made him a dependable pillar of strength'.

Simon said he had spoken to Eugene, from Bradford, on Friday and he said 'everything was fine'.

However, less than 24 hours later Eugene sadly suffered a suspected heart attack and died on Saturday evening.

Paying tribute to his friend, Simon told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Eugene's wife advised me that, on the Saturday morning he was fine, late afternoon he said he felt a bit off and then within half an hour later he had passed away.

"It is believed that Eugene suffered a heart attack and died from a cardiac arrest however, the post-mortem is not yet complete to confirm this."

Eugene was married for over twenty-five years and was dedicated to his wife Tracey and children, Simon said.

He added: "[Eugene] used to start work in the early hours (between 6-7 AM) everyday so that he could finish on time to help out with school pickups, he was committed to his family and always talked about his wife and children with a smile on his face, even if he was telling me about something naughty the kids had done!

"He was an all round genuinely nice bloke with a heart of gold, everyone I know who knew him really enjoyed his company, he was a very sociable guy.

"He was also humble with it and struggled, like many of the good 'techies', to celebrate his successes at work, 'just doing the job'.

"This made appraisals a bit of a combined effort but I wouldn't have had him any other way, that was part of his make-up, a real trouper who always got on with it without ever complaining."

Eugene was described by Simon as a 'calm and collective soul' with a great dry sense of humour.

A fundraising page has now been set up in his memory on GoFundMe.

An original target of £500 has been far surpassed, with more than £3000 donated at time of writing.

To donate, click here.Speaking of the fundraiser, Simon said: "By Sunday I had contacted most of my team and had started to think about how we could honour Eugene's legacy, celebrate his life and ensure his family knew how much he was loved and appreciated at work.

"This was obviously made more difficult by the current lock down situation, none of us at work had seen each other face to face for some weeks and it brought new challenges as to how we were going to collect and present our messages of condolence.

"On Monday we had collected our ideas and chose to setup the GoFundMe page and an internal web page where messages of condolences could be made for those that were maybe not able to donate.

"We've been a bit overwhelmed by the GoFundMe page as I know Eugene's wife and family have also, such lovely messages that are a testament to Eugene's life.

"I also take comfort in the fact that Eugene's wife and family may worry a little less about the finances at this difficult time, so they can concentrate on coping with their loss and readjusting to life without him.

"I've not really stopped to think too much about the whole situation at this point as I've kept myself busy and focused the last few days, it all feels a bit surreal to me and my team.

"Eugene is irreplaceable and we're going to have a big gaping hole, in numerous ways, within our team.

"We shall all miss him dearly at work.

"Rest in peace."

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