THE swine flu epidemic has claimed two more victims in the North East, including one apparently healthy man.

Ade Bellenie had only recently celebrated his first wedding anniversary but has now been killed by the deadly virus.

Last night his grieving widow told how, in a cruel twist of fate, the same registrar who married them issued his death certificate.

Mr Bellenie was taken ill on December 27 when his oxygen and blood pressure dropped. Just a day later he was rushed into intensive care where medics discovered he had swine flu. And as thousands were getting ready to ring in 2011, the 47-year-old father died in hospital on New Year’s Eve.

“It all happened so suddenly,” said widow Anne, 51. “He was fine, perfectly healthy, and then he took ill. He was being treated for pneumonia and then the doctors found it was swine flu. It was so quick, with no warning.

“He was a real gentleman, he was brought up well. Ade made so many people laugh, everyone loved him.

“He was 6ft 3ins tall and 17-and-a-half-stones. Never in a million years would we have expected this to happen.”

The pair, who both worked at Akzo Nobel’s International Paints plant in Gateshead, met at a works social evening in Newcastle over eight years ago and married in September 2009.

Mrs Bellenie, of Fulwell, Sunderland, added: “It was a lovely day. Because we had both been married before, we were married at Sunderland Registry Office. We then had our reception at Martino’s in Fulwell and Ade went off to the Sunderland match afterwards. We then both had a night at the dogs. It was a great day but when I went to register Ade’s death we had to go into the same room at the Civic Centre we were married in on September 12, 2009, with the same chairs and the same registrar. It was awful.