Daughter of man who died in Princes Street bank says life has '˜frozen'

The daughter of the man who died in Barclays bank has spoken of her devastation after receiving a text from him just half an hour before he collapsed.

Michael Hodgson with friend Stacey Clark

Thought to have collapsed following a heart problem in the Princes Street bank, Michael Hodgson has been described as the life and soul of the party.

Daughter Misha Louise, 25, told the Evening News that her life has been frozen since police officers informed her of her father’s death on Monday.

“We spoke briefly on the morning and he told me he was getting the tram into the city centre,” Misha said.

“Afterwards I messaged him to say I’ll phone him later on Monday. He messaged back at 10.01am saying ‘OK sweetie. I’ll speak to you later. I look forward to it.’ Then around half an hour later he died. Police came to my home in Huddersfield and it was like the world just froze. It’s like the world stopped and the play button hasn’t been pressed yet.”

Michael leaves behind children Misha, Thomas, Nathan and Adam as well as nine-year-old grandson Rowan.

The 57-year-old former chef who lived in Broomhouse and moved from Huddersfield to Edinburgh more than five years ago had been welcomed into Stacey Clark’s family after they met at Cooper’s Rest pub run by Stacey’s mum. It was originally believed that Stacey and other friends in Edinburgh would be arranging the grandad’s funeral. But his family has confirmed their intention to bring Michael home to Huddersfield so he can be buried with his father.

Misha added: “It is what he would have wanted. It is the last thing I’ll ever get a chance to do for my dad so I want to make him proud. I love him more than life itself. We’re all just absolutely devastated.

“We’ve been left overwhelmed by the amount of people who have so many good things to say about him. He was so funny. He would make joke after joke. Most of the time his laugh was better than the joke.

“He was the life and soul of the party. He loved drinking, singing and dancing with his friends. His food was amazing. He could make something out of nothing. His chicken curry was absolutely incredible. I’d get him to make it every time I visited him in Edinburgh.”

Both friends and family are still awaiting the result of the post mortem, which has been delayed until Friday.

Paramedics tried to save Mr Hodgson but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were also called but are not treating the death as suspicious.

Stacey Clark, 30, told the Evening News that she intends to hold a wake in the Capital for those friends unable to make the journey down to Yorkshire for the funeral.

She added: “He was a very, very nice man, always went out of his way for people. Michael was very chatty, loud and also liked a drink but was a very funny man too. We didn’t think he had anyone else. But we respect the wishes of his family to have his funeral in Huddersfield.

“However we are not sure if we’ll be able to make it so we’re planning on holding a wake here so all of his friends here can gather to pay their respects.”