Unborn baby to be named after expectant dad Jamie Harper who collapsed and died at Goals Leeds charity match

Jamie Harper, 34, was airlifted to hospital after he took ill at the Goals Leeds five-a-side football centre on Sunday, just four days after moving in with girlfriend Leah Hayes.

He was pronounced dead shortly before 1.41pm at Leeds General Infirmary, less than two weeks after sharing his exciting news on social media.

It is believed Jamie, a chef at a Wetherspoons pub, suffered a heart attack while taking part in a charity tournament with workmates.

Grieving Leah, 24, said Jamie had “so excited” to become a parent for the first time.

And Leah, already mum to four-year-old Evelyn, revealed that whether the child is a boy or girl, she will name them after their dad.

Now 14 weeks pregnant, she said: "We were talking about baby names, but I've decided I'm going to name the baby after him and call it Jamie. It's the only choice now.

"He'd just moved in that Thursday, he'd moved all his stuff into my house.

"He was going to adopt my daughter, she'd started calling him dad. She's never had a dad so having Jamie in our lives for the last year had been great.

"All he'd ever wanted was to have children and have a family.”

Leah said she had last spoken to Jamie at around 11am on the day he died.

“I'm diabetic and my blood sugar levels were low,” she said.

"His last words to me were, 'Make sure you have something to eat for the baby, it's going to be a strong rugby player one day’.

"I told him to have a good day and message me when he could."

Leah found out the tragic news when her mum rang her after seeing tributes pouring in for Jamie on social media.

Her mum rushed to meet her to break the dreadful news in person and Leah went to see Jamie's parents that evening.

They told her he had suffered a heart attack, but an autopsy would have to be done to discover what caused it.

Leah added: "His dad and uncle have both had heart attacks, thankfully they've survived.

"Jamie never complained of any health issue. He was quite fit and healthy, he did the charity football game every year since he'd worked there."

West Yorkshire Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and the Coroner's Office has been informed.

The couple had been together since February when rugby-mad Jamie took Leah to a Castleford Tigers match for their first date.

Now she has been left heartbroken after their bright future together was cut cruelly short.

She said: "This was the happiest I'd ever been and it's all been taken away so quickly.

"He was the first loving man I'd ever met. He would always go out of his way to help people, no matter what. He would have been an amazing dad."

A fundraising page has been set up to give Jamie a fitting send off.

Any money left will be used by Leah, who does not work due to poor health, to help cover the costs of baby equipment.

Visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jamieharper to donate.