The parents of a pregnant 21-year-old woman who died suddenly in Cyprus on the day she was due to fly home have spoken of their heartache.

Lloyd and Jayne Gordon had not seen their beautiful daughter Kalisha since June when she left Gloucester on a working holiday giving out flyers in the party resort of Ayia Napa.

What they did not know was that Kalisha was looking forward to telling them she was pregnant with the child of her boyfriend of two years, Daniel Douglas, 23.

Then suddenly on the morning of July 30 Kalisha fell very ill with severe vomiting, chest pain and loss of consciousness.

Her friends rushed her to a hospital in Famagusta – but only hours later she was dead.

Her parents were at first told that Kalisha had died of a heart attack but, after they returned home to their other children Josiah, 18, Shelina, 20, and Janessa, 16, the post mortem examination confirmed she died because of an ectopic pregnancy – a complication when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb.

At home in Avening Road, Gloucester, Mr Gordon, 44, said: "I just keep thinking someone is going to pinch me and wake me up from this nightmare.

"We both wake up in the morning and for half a second you forget and then it hits you and your heart sinks.

"We still expect her to walk through the door with a big smile on her face.

"It's really hard to deal with but we have had amazing support from the community.

"Her friends have said she was desperate to tell us that she was pregnant. I just wish that she had known she was before she went away because I don't think she would have gone."

The couple had travelled to visit family in Jamaica for two weeks when the nightmare began to unfold.

"We had planned the trip for a year and were really excited but at 2.30am our daughter rang us from Gloucester and came on in a state and repeating 'Kalisha is dead'," Mrs Gordon, 39, said. "We just couldn't take it in and there was a lot of screaming.

"We then contacted our insurance companies and got home as soon as possible.

"It was horrible because we felt so helpless and so far away.

"Then we got out to Cyprus and made sure that we flew back on the same plane as our baby girl.

"On August 12 we should have been getting home from an amazing holiday but instead an inquest was being opened into the death of our beautiful daughter.

"She was so bright and bubbly and had such a wonderful life in front of her.

"She was a manic crazy diva who just loved life and was doing great in her job as a deputy manager at House of Fraser in Cheltenham.

"Her funeral will be a celebration of her life and there will be lots of colour – that is how she would have wanted it and that's how it shall be.

"To be honest it's all still sinking in and I still can't believe it. It just feels like it was the wrong time to take her from us."

If an ectopic pregnancy is not treated quickly it can cause abdominal bleeding, which can lead to death.

An investigation is under way in Cyprus into Kalisha's treatment and her parents are taking legal advice.

Her funeral will be at St Barnabas Church, Gloucester on August 22.