A family is heartbroken after their 25-year-old son passed away at home probably because his diabetes caused his blood-sugar levels to plummet dangerously low.

Parents Phil and Jo Dodd, of Handbridge, describe their son Michael as a ‘wonderful, loving, kind, generous, funny and much loved person’ who will be missed by everyone including his ‘devastated’ brothers Paul, 22, and Daniel, 19.

Michael, who controlled his type 1 diabetes by injecting himself with insulin, worked with his father and brother Daniel in the family roofing business.

When dad Phil went to pick Michael up for work on Monday, February 9, he didn’t answer the door or phone at his Saddlery Way apartment near the racecourse. Phil called police to enter the property and Michael was found in bed, with evidence he had tried to use gluco-gel, fasting-acting sugars taken when blood-sugar levels get too low.

“It’s a complete shock the whole thing, it’s just a nightmare,” said Phil, who described the use of gluco-gel as a ‘last resort’ measure.

He has spent every week day with his son over the past nine years and dreads going back to work. “It’s going to be awful. He was my right-hand man.”

The family must await the findings of a post mortem examination but mum Jo fears it is ‘most likely’ he succumbed to the diabetes he had lived with since the age of 14. She feels her son has been desperately unlucky as this was only the second time he had suffered such a serious hypoglycaemic attack.

Jo explained that her son had been getting over a heavy cold, which can be more serious for someone with his condition, but was on the road to recovery. And Michael, a former pupil of Chester Catholic High School, was last seen on a night out with friends on the Friday.

She added: “He had a really good week that week. He was in a good mood and was looking forward to going out with his friends on the Friday.”

She described her son as ‘outgoing, happy, friendly and always smiling’. Someone who was popular, ‘always up for a good party’ and ‘very easy-going’.

“It’s heartbreaking. Every parent’s worst nightmare. We just miss him so much. It’s not just us, it’s his friends as well. Everyone’s heartbroken. Everyone loved him.”

Michael was a huge Chester FC fan and loved music. His parents are considering how to celebrate their son’s life in an appropriate way.

His funeral takes place at Blacon Crematorium on Friday, February 27 at 9.20am. Donations are to Diabetes UK.