Surgeon husband of Natascha dies on doorstep at 42

One of London's most highly-regarded cosmetic surgeons has died aged 42.

Martin Kelly, the husband of actress Natascha McElhone, was found slumped on the doorstep of his Fulham home late last night by another doctor. He is suspected to have suffered a heart attack.

Ms McElhone was filming in Los Angeles at the time of the death and was on her way to London today. She is expecting a third child with Dr Kelly, with whom she already has two young children, Theodore, eight, and Otis, five. Friends said that 36-year-old Ms McElhone is "devastated" by his death.

Dr Kelly was a leading reconstructive surgeon and part of London Plastic Surgery Associates (LPSA), where his colleagues included Peter Butler, the doctor who will carry out Britain's first face transplant.

At the time of his death, Dr Kelly was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

A statement from the LPSA said: "The partners and staff of LPSA are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of our colleague Martin Kelly. He was a gifted plastic and reconstructive surgeon, a dynamic member of our practice, a devoted husband and father to his family and a dear friend and colleague."

Hewas educated in Paris and at Winchester College in the UK before studying medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in London. He graduated in 1989 and continued his surgical training in Oxford and London, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1993. He lived with his family in a £2.5 million home in Fulham.

Friends said Dr Kelly brought hope to hundreds of children born with facial disfigurements through Facing The World, the charity he helped set up, which pioneered reconstructive operations. He was also called "the king of rhinoplasty" in surgical circles and was understood to have carried out an operation to save the septum of Tara Palmer-Tomkinson after it was damagedby cocaine abuse. It is believed Dr Kelly, who had no known health problems, died of a heart attack after returning home alone after work yesterday.

A friend who found him called an ambulance but paramedics were unable to revive him.

Doctors are investigating if the heart attack could have been triggered by a virus. Dr Kelly's father-in-law, the media commentator Roy Greenslade, said that family, friends and colleagues were in "complete shock".

Mr Greenslade, who is Ms McElhone's stepfather, said the couple had a " fairytale" relationship and were about to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. He said: ''He was a truly magnificent man as a surgeon, as a father and as a husband. As well as being a brilliant doctor, he painted, wrote his own music as well as being a great sportsman. He was a true Renaissance man."