THE family of a Rosyth dad who lost his life tragically when he passed out while driving say they are "absolutely heartbroken" over their loss.

Frank MacFarlane was travelling to work on the A985 early last Friday morning when he suffered a bleed to the brain which caused him to pass out.

The 61-year-old, from Burnside Crescent, was between the Cairneyhill roundabout and Kincardine at 5.35am when his blue BMW 3 series left the road and struck a wall.

He was taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but the following day his family made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support.

"Everybody is absolutely heartbroken and he will be sorely missed by all his friends and family," Frank's step-daughter, Brogan Taylor, said.

"If there was even chance he was going to pull through he would have been severely disabled so we made the decision to turn off his life support.

"It was the hardest decision but we knew it was the best for him – he was a very active man and we know it's not what he would have wanted.

"When he woke up on Friday morning he complained of neck pain and said he wasn't feeling well but he left for work.

"We're just thankful that someone must have seen the accident because he travelled a long way down an embankment so he could have been there for hours otherwise."

Frank was cut from the car by emergency services and his injuries included a fractured neck, broken ribs, punctured lung and a broken pelvis as well as brain damage, which made his bleed even worse.

There was no improvement in his condition on Saturday and that's when doctors sat down with his family to discuss what they wanted to do.

Tragically, Frank had only married his wife, Laura Bowe, six months ago and he also leaves behind five step-children as well as three grandchildren.

He lost his partner of 17 years Patricia (Brogan's mum) five years ago but found happiness again with Laura.

Brogan added: "He came into my life at the age of four after my biological father left us so he really was a dad to me.

"And he stayed a part of our lives after mum passed away.

"He moved on and met Laura and they were very happy. He also had a lot of close friends and we've all been totally devastated by this.

"We've had no time to prepare so it's just a massive shock.

"He drove every day on that road for 15 years of his life and just that one day he was unlucky."

Frank had no previous health problems and was always very active even outside of work, at Scot Beef of Alan Sterling in Bridge of Allan.

"There certainly was only one Frank!" Brogan said.

"He loved his gardening and his car!

"He was always polishing and cleaning it – it was like his baby!

"He loved to go for a pint every Friday night with his best friend, Ally.

"He was such a bubbly person and would do anything for anyone – he had a heart of gold.

"He was always trying to play a trick to make people smile - he was just an upbeat person and enjoyed life.

"He really will be missed."

Sergeant Alastair Purvis, of Fife Road Policing, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mr MacFarlane at this difficult time.

“Enquiries into the incident are ongoing. We would urge anybody who was driving on the road and may have dashcam footage or witnessed the incident to contact police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident 0492 of July 31.