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Jemma Benjamin had been enjoying a night out with a friend when fun turned to romance and they found themselves in each other’s arms.

It was sixth-former Jemma’s first kiss with Daniel Ross, 21. Minutes later the 18-year-old was dead.

An inquest yesterday heard that Jemma, a hockey player and swimmer, was killed by sudden adult death syndrome, a rare heart condition.

Daniel said her eyelids “suddenly began to droop” after they shared the kiss and she started frothing at the mouth. He tried to save her before paramedics arrived but the inquest heard nothing could have been done as Sads cases are usually instant.

He told the coroner: “We were going to go to a bar for food and went back to my house for a credit card which I had forgotten.

“We were talking and ended up kissing in the hallway by the front door.

“We went into the kitchen, then the living room and Jemma sat down on the sofa.” When she collapsed Daniel called 999 and was given CPR instructions over the phone. Jemma, who had been stressed about forthcoming A-level sports science exams, died in her hometown of Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, in April 2009.

Heartbroken mum Charlotte Garwood said: “She was a picture of health one minute and taken away from me the next.”

Dad Dale, 38, a builder of Llantwit Fardre, said: “Jemma was very shy and timid.” He added: “She was a beautiful daughter and a lovely person.”

Daniel, who has now finished his studies at the University of Glamorgan and returned home to Walsall, West Mids, wrote on his Facebook page: “I noticed how beautiful the sky was the other day, then I realised it’s because you’re up there.”

Jemma lay on the floor for 22 minutes before an ambulance arrived. Her family made a formal complaint and a probe found the urgency of the situation had been underestimated by the 999 team. A disciplinary hearing is due to take place later this year.

But coroner Peter Maddox, who recorded a narrative verdict yesterday at the Aberdare inquest, said: “On the balance of probabilities, the delayed response did not affect the tragic outcome in this case.”