A mother from Germany held up by a visa red tape row arrived in Britain to say goodbye to her fatally-ill husband – only to learn he had died 90 minutes earlier.
Luchy Lopez-Hammann, 52, of Hamburg, arrived in Glasgow just an hour and a half after her husband Andreas Hammann, 59, died at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.
Mr Hammann, who was in Scotland with his son John, ten, to attend his nephew Kevin McLaughlin’s wedding last week, suffered a heart attack on Saturday.
Luchy Lopez-Hammann (right) was met at Glasgow Airport by Willie Drummond (centre), who was a good friend of her husband Andreas. Mr Hammann died 90 minutes before she arrived
Home Office red tape stopped Mrs Lopez-Hammann, who has a Peruvian passport and has lived in Germany for 13 years, from entering the UK after he was taken ill.
She faced delays in obtaining a visa to reach the UK before her husband’s life support was turned off. The family criticised the situation as ‘ridiculous’.
Mr Hammann, who is German as well as his son, faced complications after suffering a heart attack before his kidneys failed and he died at 2pm yesterday.
Mr McLaughlin, 26, from Ayr, told the Daily Record that Mrs Lopez-Hammann had been forced to travel to Berlin for an interview to obtain a visa and pay €500 (£450).

Andreas Hammann (pictured in hospital) had been in Scotland with his son to attend his nephew Kevin McLaughlin’s wedding last week, but suffered a heart attack on Saturday
While she was eventually granted a visa waiver to travel to Scotland, 26-year-old Mr McLaughlin later confirmed that it had come too late.
‘His wife didn’t make it in time to see him, she was hour and a half away,’ said Mr McLaughlin, whose mother Marina is the sister of Mr Hammann.
Mr McLaughlin added: ‘We are really angry, annoyed and upset. My mum is managing to put on a brave face but is raging things have taken so long.
‘They could have sorted this out a lot sooner. I can’t imagine what John is thinking or what he is going through at that age.’
Mrs Lopez-Hammann only found out her husband had died when she was met at the airport by Willie Drummond, 68, who was a good friend of her husband.

Mr Hammann died at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride (file picture) at 2pm yesterday
And Mr Drummond told the Daily Record: ‘This is an absolute scandal and was completely avoidable. What they did was absolutely unforgiveable.
We are really angry, annoyed and upset. My mum is managing to put on a brave face but is raging things have taken so long
Kevin McLaughlin, nephew of Andreas Hammann
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘In light of the exceptional compassionate circumstances of this case, we issued Mrs Lopez-Hammann with a visa waiver to allow her to travel to the UK as soon as we were able. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We send our sincere condolences to Ms Lopez-Hammann and her family.
‘It’s totally unacceptable that Home Office delays in this case should have caused such unnecessary additional distress to them.’