Obituary: Glenn Ian Robertson, NHS worker, 38

TRIBUTES have been paid to Glenn Ian Robertson, a much loved 38-year-old NHS worker based at the Sick Kids hospital who died suddenly in March.

Mr Robertson was just two days shy of his 39th birthday when he suffered a fatal pulmonary thromboembolism - a blockage of the main artery of the lung caused by a blood clot.

In the lead-up to his death the "fit and healthy" walking fanatic had complained to family members about pains in his legs, which they had attributed to his love of "walking everywhere".

Sadly, the cause was much more serious, as Mr Robertson was suffering from a deep vein thrombosis.

Born in 1972, Mr Robertson was an only child of his devoted mother, Mary Wallace.

He grew up in Sighthill and attended St Augustine's High School. It was on his first day there that a mutual friend introduced him to Derek Smith, who was to be his best friend for the next 27 years of his life.

A proud fan of Heart of Midlothian football club, Mr Robertson's friends recall how his bedroom was plastered with posters of the team. Mr Smith said: "The story that best sums up his love of Hearts is from 1986. (It was] close to the end of the season, playing at Aberdeen, a team which still included some of the stars of their 1983 cup winning season.

"A 1-0 victory secured, the Hearts fans were ecstatic and were celebrating uncontrollably, as it looked like they could at long last secure the Premier League title. As everyone was jumping, cheering, laughing and rejoicing, Glenn was sitting on his seat, sobbing with absolute joy at what the team was achieving."

Mr Robertson's love of football also extended beyond the football pitch, with his invention of a new sport - lounge football, a game that resulted in a sizeable hole in the wall above the "goals", also known as the couch.

Other passions included music, with Mr Robertson's taste described as eclectic. He harboured a fond spot for Elvis Presley and loved literature, being particularly fond of JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Although he had long held a love of sciences, it was a former girlfriend who worked as a nurse that sparked his interest in working for the health sector. He became an operations department practitioner, assisting anaesthetists to deliver drugs to patients.

Mr Smith said his friend had an affinity with children that meant he was particularly well suited to his job: "He had to collect kids from the wards and taken them to theatre, which would have been a fairly traumatic experience for them. He was able to put them at ease and suited the role tremendously. He very much saw his extended family and their children as part of his family and many children, including my own, called him 'uncle.'"

A funeral service for Mr Robertson was held at Mortonhall Crematorium last month, attended by 350 people.