A fitness fanatic who was about to propose to his girlfriend after secretly buying an engagement ring died from heart failure aged just 25.

Sam Standerwick was found dead in a hotel room by friends after a night out in Liverpool, with tests later revealing his arteries had blockages that resembled a patient with a major heart disease.

His heartbroken family revealed he had put off a trip to the doctor before the night out even though he had been recently complaining of heart palpitations.  

Before he left he told his parents he loved them and said he would see them the following day - but he went to sleep and never woke up.

After he died the engagement ring was found among his possessions at the Arthouse Hotel - revealing he had been planning to propose to his girlfriend Kim Fisher, 22. His devastated father Adrian said: 'His heart just didn't have enough power to keep going and just stopped beating in his sleep.

'We just couldn't believe it. We had nine weeks to wait for the inquest and it was driving us crazy thinking: "What is this? Did someone inject him with drugs? Was it a brain aneurysm?". He had gone to sleep and just never woken up.

'It's heartbreaking. If I knew then what I know now, Sam would still be here.'

Sam, from Conwy, North Wales, who worked at his father's CCTV business and was planning to set up his own firm, had been suffering from heart palpitations for months before he died on December 17 last year.

A coroner's report later revealed the seemingly healthy young man, who worked out most nights and was obsessive about his diet, had a 70 per cent blockage in his coronary artery - something commonly seen in people with major heart disease. Adrian said: 'The night before he was suffering from heart palpitations, something he had been saying about for a little while every now and again.

'My wife said to him: 'You need to get checked over. I will book you an appointment at the doctor's for tomorrow'.

'He said: "I'm out with the lads in Liverpool tomorrow, I will do it next week".

'He got ready to go out to Liverpool. He said: "Love you mum, love you dad, see you tomorrow" and went on his night out.

'At 25, you would never think that anything's seriously wrong. When Sam walked out of that door that night it was the furthest thing from our minds. We never dreamed something like that would happen.'

'The next day Kim, his girlfriend, phoned us asking if we had heard from him.