UPDATE: Stephen Gately’s Husband Battled To Revive Him

Yesterday we reported the death of 33-year-old Irish Boyzone band member, Stephen Gately. Today we revealed that he apparently died from choking to death on his own vomit. Those details have been corroborated by The Sun who told this heartbreaking tale of love as Stephen Gately’s husband, Andy Cowles struggled to revive him during their last moments together:

Stephen Gately’s frantic partner tried desperately to revive the lifeless singer at their Majorca holiday home.

Hysterical Andy Cowles screamed: “Wake up! Wake up!” before giving the stricken Boyzone star the kiss of life.

But he was unable to save tragic Stephen – whom he found in a “praying” position, squatting on the floor with his face resting on a sofa pillow.

Police who sped to the scene concluded the 33-year-old Irishman had choked on his vomit in the night.

Officers on the sunshine island are now piecing together the gay pop idol’s movements in his final hours.

And they are keen to speak to a 25-year-old Bulgarian named as Georgi Dochev – said to have met Andy and Stephen at a bar and partied at their home near Port d’Anratx before the singer’s sudden death.

The trio are thought to have returned to the £1million flat at about 4.30am on Saturday. An hour later Andy went to bed – but Stephen, who had been drinking EIGHT HOURS, said he would stay up a while longer.

Andy, 32, awoke and discovered the body some time after midday.

Friends told how he battled for 30 minutes to revive Stephen – his civil partner since 2006.

One pal said: “Andy said he’d screamed, ‘Wake up! Wake up!’ at him. He also tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When everything failed he even slapped him across the face.

“But doctors later confirmed Stephen’s lungs had filled with fluid. There was nothing Andy could have done. He had drowned and asphyxiated.”

When Andy found no sign of life he rushed to a neighbour for help.

Cops were alerted and arrived at 1pm. A police source said: “Stephen was discovered in a strange position – squatting down by the sofa in almost a praying position.

“His partner was beside himself with grief and was being comforted in their bedroom by a neighbour who he’d called on to help.”

Police sources said the star’s death appeared to be natural. One said: “At the moment all we know is that Stephen Gately is dead and he was found dead on a sofa at an apartment near Port d’Anratx on Saturday.

“The rest is a mystery. There were no signs of violence or evidence of suicide or any obvious evidence pointing to another probable cause of death, like drugs use. But we’re unlikely to be able to shed any further light on what’s happened until after a post-mortem.”…

Yesterday the star’s family invited Irish solicitor and family friend Gerald Kean to speak on their behalf.

He said: “There’s no foul play involved and it’s not suicide. It’s just a tragic accident is what we’ve been told – and we’re happy that that is correct information.

“There is nothing untoward. It’s not drugs, we don’t believe, it’s not suicide, it’s not murder, it’s not a fight. That’s what we’ve been told.”

Mr Kean said the family were shattered by their loss. He added: “They are devastated and they asked me to take calls for the moment. They’re just trying to come to terms with it.

He said a post mortem was expected to take place tomorrow.

Stephen’s relatives, who have not travelled to Majorca, hope to have his remains returned to Dublin by the end of the week for the funeral.

A police source said: “We will wait until the autopsy, but we don’t believe there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.”

The Telegraph has additionally heartbreaking details in an article entitled “Stephen Gately’s partner ‘will never forgive himself for Boyzone member’s death’.” It says that Cowles feels deeply responsible for not checking on Gately during the night, and it goes onto to suggest a potentially sexual twist as Gately and Cowles spent the night with a 25-year-old they met at a gay bar:

“I will never forgive myself for this. He died and I couldn’t help him. I feel like my life is over,” he said to have told the band members, according to the Daily Mirror.

A close friend also told the newspaper: “They kept telling Andy that he shouldn’t blame himself – but he just kept crying his eyes out.

“The guy is in a deep state of shock and he hasn’t slept for a minute since this tragedy unfolded. He is a total mess and everyone is worried about him.”

The friend added: “They told him that there is nothing he could have done and that he has to stop blaming himself.”…

Georgi Petrov Dochev, 25, told how he spent the night in the apartment the pop star shared with his partner and discovered his dead body at 1.30pm on Saturday.

He awoke to find Gately “white and cold” slumped on the sofa at the couple’s £1million apartment near Puerto Andratx on the south west of the Balearic Island and raised the alarm.

“I found Stephen dead and I woke his husband. He was white and cold when I found him,” he said.

He refused to discuss reports that he had spent the night in the couple’s bedroom while Gately remained on the sofa after the three men returned together from a gay nightclub on Saturday morning.

Mr Dochev, who lives in a modest flat on the outskirts of Palma, said he has now given police a full account of event leading up to Gately’s death.

He said Mr Cowles, 32, had also spoken fully to detectives.

“You will have to ask the husband what has happened,” said Mr Dochev, who is originally from Sofia, Bulgaria.

“It has been very traumatic. I don’t want to say anything more. I am still nervous and really upset. I have barely slept since this happened.”

Our hearts and thoughts go out to Stephen’s family, friends, and fans and to his beautiful husband, Andy. We’re usually all about deep-dicking and cum-gurgling here at QueerClick, but beyond our smutty porn fantasies lies the hearts of men longing for actual love (no, really). Andy and Stephen were lucky enough to find that in their lives and that their time together has been cut tragically short has mitigated our usual cheekiness and left us somewhat heartbroken ourselves.