A GWENT man has died after a series of illnesses including the superbug MRSA.

Kevin Harris, 39, is believed to have caught the virus before he was taken to hospital suffering a brain haemorrhage.

Mr Harris, of Talywain, collapsed while on a family holiday in West Wales. He was taken to hospital by paramedics where he was diagnosed with the haemorrage.

He was admitted to Morriston Hospital in Swansea two days later and was able to recognise and talk to his brother.

But then the family was told he was also infected with MRSA - and within five days Mr Harris died.

His mother, Anne Harris, 59, of Gordon Road, said: "He was a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving boy. You think it's all a dream and that you'll wake up from it. I just feel numb."

His death certificate listed four causes of death: severe infection, brain haemorrhage, meningitis and multiple cerebral aneurysms.

Mrs Harris added: "On the Tuesday following (the haemorrhage) it looked better and they said they were going to take him off life-support but they didn't.

"On the Friday the sister told us he had a very bad infection. She gave me a leaflet about MRSA and said it was in his nose and the back of his throat. She said he was already a carrier."

MRSA stands for multi resistant staphylococcus aureus and is often associated with hospital wards but one in three people are already carriers.

A distinction is made between those who pick up in the bug in hospitals or in the community. The Swansea NHS Trust believes Mr Price was already carrrying MRSA.

His sister Sharon Price, 37, a mother-of-two, said: "When I heard that he had come around and he was talking I thought, 'There is some hope then.' Then my mum told me, 'He's got that superbug.' And after that he didn't pick up, he deteriorated."

A spokeswoman for Swansea NHS Trust said patient confidentiality meant they could not comment on Kevin Harris' case.