The father of a young man who was found dead at home says he never imagined a phone call with his son just hours before his death would be his last.

Ryan Burns, 33, died at his house in Highsted, near Sittingbourne, on May 8, after struggling with his mental health and an alcohol problem.

He was found by his mum Karen the following morning.

She then made the heartbreaking call to husband Gary Burns – who together had only spoken to their son the night before on FaceTime.

Dad Gary, 57, says his son struggled with alcohol and mental health problems throughout his life.

He explained: “Because of his age, I think people put two and two together with regards to suicide and get five, but it was one of a number of things with Ryan in that his body just couldn't take anymore.

“He didn't kill himself, and it wasn't just alcohol either despite him having a problem with it - it was more like his body had just given out.

"He spoke to us on FaceTime the night before at about 9pm, but then Karen tried to message him on the Monday morning and couldn't get anything from him – that's when we found him shortly afterwards.

A post-mortem and toxicology report will show more about what happened in about eight-ten weeks, he says.

Gary added: "The loss has just created absolute devastation and has left a huge hole in so many people's lives, but there was nothing else any of us could have done.”

Ryan was born at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford in November 1989, and lived in the town with his parents, and sister Rhiannon, until he was four.

They all moved to Sittingbourne to be closer to family, at which point Ryan would soon attend South Avenue Primary School and then Borden Grammar School when he was 11 during his time living in Kemsley and Bredgar.

His passion for films was then put to good use when he won a place at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey.

However, he struggled to break into the industry and pursue a career in the field further – something dad Gary says he found difficult to come to terms with.

He added: “People like Ryan who don't achieve their goals in life go down a route where their brain would run at a million miles an hour.

"That was his passion and he graduated from there loving it, with his two favourite films being Jaws and Star Wars.

"But he never managed to get a job in the film industry and that was something I believe he struggled with, as he was so knowledgeable about it.

"So there has been a huge waste of potential – he was such an intelligent and outgoing person who everybody loved.

"He had a terrific sense of humour and always would light up a room as he was so well-loved - including the mental health group he went to where he would help out others as well.

"We have had hundreds of messages from people at Ryan's school, university and nearby telling us how he touched their lives.

"He would always stop and talk to people, no matter who they were, and that makes it even harder.

"Leeds United was a huge passion for him as well, like it is for me, and he loved a lot of music as well like folk and 60s and 70s music and played the drums too.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up in honour of MenTalkHealth Sittingbourne – a weekly meet-up group for men struggling with mental health which Ryan attended and helped out with.

He was described as “giving hope and encouragement to many others” at the group.

It has already surpassed its £2,000 target and at the time of writing has raised more than £5,000.

A comment on the page read: “I only met Ryan a few times but he was a smashing lad, and it was easy to understand why he was loved so much by his friends and family.”