A HEARTBROKEN mum has paid tribute to her partner and “soul mate” after his death aged just 34.

Lee Harvey, of Woodthorpe, York, died from myelodysplasia syndrome, a rare blood cancer in which the individual does not produce enough healthy blood cells.

Lee was diagnosed in January and had been completing a course of chemotherapy, and receiving a bone transplant, before being rushed into hospital at the end of the August.  

His partner of 17 years, Charlotte Moses, 31, said the couple had just won a charity competition, run by St Leonard’s Hospice, where the couple who fundraised the most money for the charity would have the chance to marry at the Marriot Hotel, York.

They had been scheduled to tie the knot next June.

Charlotte said: “I’m heartbroken.

“It is such a shock. He was doing well and we were confident that he would recover.The doctor told me that he wasn’t going to make it and I broke down.

“Being with him is all that I have known. I am a mother to his two kids, Amelia, five, and Finley, two, who don’t realise what has happened yet.

“It would have been a dream wedding but I need to stay strong because I have two beautiful children to bring up.

“Lee will always be in our hearts.”

Director of income generation for St Leonard’s Hospice, Dawn Clements, said: “We were saddened to hear the upsetting news of the death of Lee Harvey.

“Lee and his partner Charlotte were participating in our Win a Wedding competition, and Charlotte had been prolific in her publicity and fundraising for the hospice.

“We wish to express our deepest condolences to Charlotte and Lee’s families and friends.”

The competition has been cancelled out of respect to Charlotte and her family.