Wheelton pub chef dies of suspected swine flu

5:32pm Wednesday 12th January 2011

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A CHEF at a Wheelton pub has died of suspected swine flu.

Stephen Hall, 45, who worked at the Dressers Arms, was described by a long-term colleague as ‘a lovely man whose warmth and good humour was felt by everyone who met him’.

Mr Hall had been taken ill just after Christmas with symptoms of swine flu and admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital on December 31.

his condition worsened as he developed pneumonia and he died on Saturday after his life support machine was turned off.

He lived in Westhoughton with wife Lynda and also leaves two sons and a daughter and his first grandchild, Max, who was born four months ago.

Chris Jones, 31, head chef at the Dressers, had also worked with Mr Hall previously at the Blundell Arms on Chorley old Road in Horwich.

He said: “We were a team professionally and also became the best of friends.

“Stephen was a genuinely lovely fellow. the nicest bloke you could ever meet.

“He had a natural affinity with customers and was the face of our Sunday carvery, where he would meet the diners and share a laugh and a joke with them.

“He loved music and doted on his family. He was particularly excited in the last few months after his first grandchild was born.”

Chris added that Mr Hall had not shown any signs of illness before Christmas.

“I sent Stephen home early the day after Boxing Day as he said he wasn’t feeling well,” he said.

“From then on he just got more poorly.

“I spoke to his wife Lynda every day and was devastated on Saturday when she told me he had died.”

On December 19, Lindsay Goddard, 36, from Colne became the first East Lancashire person this winter to die after contracting the H1N1 virus.

Shortages of flu vaccine, which is administered to vulnerable groups, have been reported, with some doctors’ sugeries recently running out of doses after a massive rise in the number of cases

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