More on KentOnline
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A mum-of-three has been left devastated after her fiancé died in a tragic accident falling from a washing line at a party.
Abbie Wildeman and Adam Ashby, who lived in Penenden Heath, Maidstone, were due to marry in January.
The 31-year-old died on Monday, May 27 after horseplay went tragically wrong at a family member’s birthday party.
The alarm engineer climbed on top of a washing line but it could not hold his weight and he fell to the ground – suffering a coma-inducing brain injury.
He was rushed to King’s College Hospital in London before being taken off life-support that day.
Since his death, Miss Wildeman, who now lives in Rochester, has been going through the agonising process of calling off her venue booking, telling caterers they are not needed, and cancelling her wedding dress order.
“It’s been devastating and so hard,” she said. “He fell right in front of me, my friends, and my family.
“They were having a few beers and a laugh. Being a bit of a Jack the lad, he was climbing up the washing line but fell because the top was too weak.”
Miss Wildeman, 27, said Mr Ashby will be fondly remembered.
“He was a joker, he was really funny – a class clown personality,” she said. “He was a worker and a family man.
“Although he wasn’t the father of my children he treated them as if they were his own.”
A funeral held on Thursday, June 20 saw Tonbridge Cemetery Chapel packed with friends, family and colleagues who came in droves to pay their respects.
A coroner is preparing to open an inquest into his death but a date has not yet been set.
