THE family of 18-year old Nick Watson are reeling after his tragic death in Derriford Hospital last Thursday from an as-yet unspecified illness.

Nick, from Pencair Avenue, was initially thought to be suffering either from glandular fever or viral hepatitis.

He had been ill for two weeks before being admitted to Derriford Hospital last Thursday.

By Friday morning he was in intensive care, where he was linked up to a dialysis machine after his kidneys began to fail, but never regained consciousness.

'They were absolutely wonderful up there,' said his mother Lorraine, speaking of the treatment which he received in Derriford.

'They even sent out for a new drug which arrived by special delivery. They did everything. But by then it was too late.'

Nick, whose father is in the Navy, left Torpoint Community School when he was 16 to attend an engineering in Norfolk. On completing his work experience in Bristol he stayed on in the city to work for Nationwide Access.

'Last October, he came back home to live and started worked for Pirtek, an engineering firm in Plymouth, whose managing director Simon James described him as 'a fine young man'.

He was interested in fishing, cycling and camping and was described by his mother as being a shy young man.

He was a member of the Torpoint Youth Club where he used to meet up with his friends.

The funeral took place yesterday, at St James' Church, Torpoint and results of the post mortem to discover exactly what caused Nick's death are awaited.

'He was a nice lad, always well turned out, always with a little sort of smile,' said Torpoint Community School headmaster Roy Bright, 'a quiet, unassuming sort of lad, his tutor Martin Entwistle says.

'He had good supportive parents. I remember he was keen to join his dad in Bristol.

'It's one of those dreadful tragedies. A lot of the children here at school have been knocked by it.'