An Ardrossan father-of-two repeatedly said his case of coronavirus was non-life-threatening just hours before he died.

Ryan Storrie, 40, was told to keep self-isolating but his wife, Hilary, said he should have gone to hospital.

Hilary said: "He sat and suffered because he didn't want to spread it.

"He saw that you're being told not to go to the hospital or the doctor.

"If he knew he could go, he would have."

Ryan, Hilary and their two boys, Aaron, 13, and Andrew 11, had travelled to Scotland from their home in Dubai to celebrate Ryan's 40th birthday.

The loyal Rangers fan went to see the team play Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox on March 12 before celebrating at a party in West Kilbride with friends and family.

It was only when the family travelled back up to Glasgow to stay overnight before their flight back to the UAE that Ryan became unwell.

On Friday, March 20, Ryan developed a fever.

After a week of feeling ill, with a painful cough, he asked Hilary to call NHS 24.

Hilary said: "He was asking 'is it meant to be so sore? Am I meant to be in this much pain?'"

A doctor told him to keep doing what he was doing and self-isolating.

Two days later, he had deteriorated so much he struggled to hold a conversation.

Hilary said: "Ryan didn't keep anything from me, but when you're ill you don't want to worry your family and he didn't want to worry me.

"He never told anybody that he was ill."

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Ryan, Hilary and their two boys, Aaron (13) and Andrew (11).Ryan, Hilary and their two boys, Aaron (13) and Andrew (11).

Throughout his illness, there were moments when Ryan's condition seemed to improve and he would say he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Hilary said: "In our heads, it was just the virus, he wasn't going to be a statistic.

"After day five, he started feeling better. Then the next night his chest was in agony, he was really struggling."

But he went to bed on March 30, and when Hilary woke up early to get the boys ready for their remote-learning from Dubai she found Ryan.

Hilary performed CPR for 15 minutes until paramedics arrived.

She said: "I can't get the vision out of my head. I just wished the ambulance had been there on day ten.

"But you can't keep going over it."

When waiting on hold on NHS 111, an automated message repeatedly tells you to hang-up and call 999 if your condition is life-threatening.

Hilary said: "He kept saying I'm not a life-threatening case.

"But when do you draw the line?

"You just don't know."

Hilary wants people to know what the virus does so they can take the right action.

She said: "If you have symptoms, if you aren't well and are in pain, phone 999.

"We need to let people know not to wait.

"That's what they are for. Don't take no for an answer."

If you would like to pay tribute to somone you have lost, then you can here.