A heartbroken Bobby Knutt has spoken for the first time about how he frantically gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to his adored wife after finding her lifeless on a sun lounger in their garden.
"I knew in my head that she had gone, but my heart would just not let me believe she could have been taken like that," the actor and comedian said.
"I was giving her mouth to mouth and at the same time I was on the phone to the emergency services and I kept going, I kept on trying all the time until the ambulance people arrived and they took over.
"Everyone tried so hard, but it was no good, it was all too late - none of us could bring her back."
Olympic star Donna Hartley-Wass died suddenly aged 58 at their home in Elsecar.
A post mortem revealed has been carried out but the cause of death is still unknown.
She had joined Bobby to sunbathe in their garden in Saxton Close, after she had finished working at Tankersley Manor gym - where she had been manager since it opened.
Bobby, 67, decided he had had enough sun and went inside.
An hour later he went back outside and found Donna laying face down on a sun lounger - she was not breathing and had no pulse.
"I don't know how to deal with the memory of her just lying there," he said.
"She was my everything. I fell in love the day I met her nearly 30 years ago and that love never faded, it just got stronger and stronger.
"I keep thinking, oh I must tell Donna that and then I realise she's not here - I can't imagine my future without her.
"We never argued, we were just the best of friends and I still can't believe what has happened. She was the most thoughtful, kind loving person in the world. She was a princess, she was my wife, she was my true love."
Donna, a 400-metre runner, won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978 and a bronze at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
She was awarded an MBE in 1979. After retiring from the sport in the early 1980s, she became a champion bodybuilder and won the Miss Britain Physique title.
Bobby, who appeared on 70s' show The Comedians before an acting career that included appearances in Coronation Street, Last of the Summer Wine and Emmerdale, met Donna at a Butlins holiday camp.
* Donna's funeral is due to take place on Wednesday at Wentworth Church at 1.45pm, followed by burial in the churchyard.
