Heartbreaking final photograph of toddler taken just minutes before he was crushed to death by marble fireplace
THE heartbreaking final photograph of a happy toddler shows him playing with a horse just minutes before he was crushed to death by a fireplace.
Carter Walsh, two, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries on Wednesday afternoon after the marble fireplace fell on him in a freak accident.
The lad was being looked after by his cousin at the family home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, while his mum Samantha went to work.
But disaster struck as they were dancing in the living room when the fireplace collapsed – after its bottom section “snapped” – and crushed him.
Tragically, Carter was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
In a photo released today, the tot can be seen with a horse belonging to a family friend during a day out with his relatives.
Carter’s aunt Natalie Prescott, 35, said he had gone out for lunch at a carvery restaurant with her mum, sister and daughter, Saskia Prescott, 16, on Wednesday.
And he had the “best day ever” when he got to visit her mum’s horses – with photos showing him gazing up at one of them.
Speaking for the first time, his heartbroken mum Samantha Walsh, 38, today said of her boy: “He was my best friend.
“He was well-loved, not just by his family but by anybody that met him. He broke the hearts of everybody he met… He was the apple of our eyes.”
After lunch, Carter was driven back to his home where Saskia had played with him for around 20 minutes while Samantha was out.
Less than half an hour later after playing with the horses, the marble fireplace collapsed on him as he danced with his cousin in the living room.
Saskia and the property’s landlord, who was at the address fixing a boiler at the time, phoned an ambulance and tried to resuscitate Carter straight away.
Mum-of-four Samantha learned of the incident moments later when Saskia rang her to say there had been an accident.
Samantha said: “She was very calm at first and she just said ‘You need to come home, Carter has banged his head.’
“I don’t know if she was doing that to keep me calm.
“I was waiting for a taxi, and I was on my way home, and then I just kept ringing her. And every time I rang her, I could tell it was serious.
“And when I got there, they were still working on him – the ambulance and the police.
“They let me see him, and then they said, ‘Right, we need to get him to hospital’.”
Samantha said her mum, who is a nurse, had warned her to prepare for the worst after they found out that Carter would not be airlifted to hospital.
Devastated Samantha said when she saw Carter on the ward, he had looked “peaceful” and there were no signs that he had suffered a life-threatening injury.
She said: “It was just one head injury. But he just looked so peaceful… There was no bruising or anything to his face.
“The cut was covered over. There were no visible injuries.
“He’s had loads of checks at the hospital. They’ve said he had been healthy [prior to the accident]. Everything was fine.”
‘MY BEST MATE’
Samantha said that when Carter was born, he had briefly been looked after by foster carers before she took full charge of him.
And she was struggling to come to terms with her life now he had passed away.
Samantha said: “I had to fight for him back out of foster care. I did that, I got him back, and I’ve spent every day with him since.
“He’s been with me now nearly two years, obviously. He was my best mate.
“I’ve been back to the house. I couldn’t stay there. I went to stay with my sisters. I went back yesterday to clean up, obviously, because there was blood.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up in Carter’s memory and is calling on people to donate to help his family.
It reads: “Hi my name is Karen I am doing a go fund page on behalf of my niece Samantha who has tragically loss her 2 year old son Carter to a fatal accident.”