A BOY of 17 has died after suffering a massive heart attack on a plane to the Canary Islands.

Ryan Davies, from Blaenavon, died just an hour before the plane landed - despite frantic efforts by a doctor who was a passenger on the flight and airline staff to save him. Now his family must await international clearance so his body can be flown back to Gwent.

Ryan was a passenger on Air2000's DP292 service to Tenerife which left Cardiff at 6.52am on Friday.

He was looking forward to a week's holiday with his family.

But tragically the former pupil of Abergavenny's King Henry VIII school died from what family say was a "massive heart attack" about an hour before the plane landed . He was pronounced dead at Tenerife airport.

Ryan was flying out with his cousin Gavin, 16, and aunt and uncle Keith Watkins, 51, and Caroline, 45, of Hereford Road, Abergavenny, on what was his sixth trip to Tenerife. And re-living the horrific moment Ryan died, Mr Watkins told the Argus the fatal heart attack lasted "less than 10 seconds".

He said: "He was sat down just talking to his family and he suffered a massive heart attack in his seat."

Mr Watkins said Ryan asked him a question, and he then realised his nephew was turning blue. Despite efforts to save him, the teenager died.

A post mortem examination carried out in Tenerife confirmed a massive heart attack had caused Ryan's death.

Mr Watkins said the family were well looked after in Tenerife and were able to get a return flight within 12 hours.

He added: "I would like to thank both Air2000 and First Choice who gave us all the help they could."

Paying tribute to Man Utd fan Ryan - who is survived by his parents Mike and Marina, and three brothers and a sister - Mr Watkins added: "He was my son's best friend and he regarded him like a brother not a cousin."

He said when Ryan wasn't doing part-time work helping his dad, employed by a Blaenavon building firm, the teenager loved to fish and go skateboarding.

He added: "His death is a tragedy as far as we are concerned. Ryan was the sort of person who people fell in love with straight away."