A son has paid tribute to his loving mum, who died on Saturday as a result of a fire at her home last week, describing her as “his hero”.

Lyn Baumeister of Hopton Road, Stevenage died on Saturday at James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth. She was 63.

Firefighters carried Mrs Baumeister from her burning end of terrace house on Thursday after the alarm was raised shortly before 7.45am. She was suffering a cardiac arrest.

She was initially taken to Lister Hospital by paramedics before being transferred to a specialist unit for victims of carbon monoxide poisoning at James Paget later that day. She was given three treatments in a hyperbaric chamber but did not recover.

The cause of the fire, which started in the living room of the family home of 40 years, is being treated as accidental by investigators. A coroner’s report is being prepared.

Mrs Baumeister’s seven-month-old black Labrador dog, Ben, also died as a result of the fire.

Her son Greg paid tribute to his mum, also known by her maiden name Cherry.

The 27-year-old of Mildmay Road said: “She loved me and loved her daughters and the grandchildren.

“She was the best mum. I can’t fault her. She was pretty much my hero. She looked after me and the little ones. She was always there, taking them places, doing school runs. It was always at the weekend we went down and spent the weekend with her.

“I just thank mum for everything she did for me and my kids and my partner Kelly because she was always there regardless.”

Born in 1948, Mrs Baumeister was a life-long resident of the town, who grew up on Sish Lane, went to Barclay School, and saw the new town develop.

“Mum loved Stevenage. She was a big Old Towner,” Greg said. “Her mum and dad were proper Stevenage people as well.”

She also worked in the town at the Land Registry office for over 30 years, before taking redundancy last summer.

“She worked for so long. She had just got her house paid up,” Greg said. “It was a forced retirement, but she was happy to see her friends. She loved going out with her friends. She enjoyed dinners and lunches with them. That was the saddest thing – her life had just started. That was pretty much mum, she loved socialising towards the end.”

Her dog Ben had also been a joy to her, Greg added. “She got him as a companion. She adored him. I got my Labrador and she loved him, and so got another black Lab. They were pretty much identical.”

The family travelled to Great Yarmouth to be at her bedside, and were with her when she died.

Greg, who thanked doctors and nurses at the hospital, said: “They needed to see if she could recover, but she never did. We all were there - close family were with her at the end.”

He added that her death had helped others.

“Mum actually saved three people. She saved lives through organ donation. They rang us and told us.”

Mrs Baumeister is survived by her husband George, brother Alan Cherry, son Greg, daughters Linsey Jordan and Janita Dawson, and six grandchildren – Leon, Elise, Jayden, Jamie-Lee, Jack and Jessica.