A MOTHER has paid tribute to her “kind and generous” daughter who died suddenly while working in Turkey.

Christine Watkinson was 55 years-old when she suffered a sudden brain aneurysm during a work meeting in Istanbul and died in hospital.

Ms Watkinson was working as a holiday tour operator at the time — a career she was passionate about because of her love of travel.

She lived in Fellbridge Close in Westhoughton, a short journey from her family home in Church Street, where her mother Marion, aged 84, still lives. Her father George is currently cared for in a local nursing home.

Mrs Watkinson said: “Christine was a kind and generous person who would do anything for anybody and that is why she had so many friends.

“She was good-hearted and I would describe her as a quicksilver person — because when she wanted something she would just go for it.”

Mrs Watkinson said she is yet to come to terms with her daughters passing, adding: “Apparently she started coughing during a meeting and was taken to hospital. They tried to operate but they couldn’t do anything — I still can’t believe it, she should be speaking about me like this and not the other way around.

“I would like to say thank you to her cousin Lynda Hall and her Italian friend Christina who were by her side at the end.

"Me and Christine got on very well and we had a shared love of Motown soul music and enjoyed going to concerts together."

Christine went to Westhoughton High School and then to the former Horwich Technical college, where she studied to become a secretary.

After working for a business in Manchester, she later went on to be an au pair for a family in Switzerland, which prompted her love of travelling and subsequent career in the holiday industry.

Her mother said: “She was very passionate about travelling and knew a great deal, so when she became a tour operator, she was very good at her job and her colleagues respected her.”

Christine, who was not married, spent a lot of time working in Italy, picking up a large friendship group and a fluency in the Italian language along the way.

Mrs Watkinson said her daughter’s popularity with colleagues and customers has been demonstrated by the fact that a number of Italians are making the journey over to Westhoughton for her funeral today..

The ceremony will be taking place at St. Bartholomew’s Church in The Fairways from 12.15pm, followed by a committal at Howe Bridge Crematorium in Atherton at 1pm. Mrs Watkinson has asked for guests to wear light-coloured clothes as it is what Christine would have wanted.

The family asked for any donations to be sent to Wigan and Leigh Hospice — in memory of Christine’s uncle Alf who was cared for there before his death.