“Tell my kids I love them”- heartbreaking final words of father before jump from Cliffs of Moher – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

“Tell my kids I love them”- heartbreaking final words of father before jump from Cliffs of Moher




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An inquest into the death of a 37-year-old man who jumped from the Cliffs of Moher heard that a man’s final words were to tell his children that he loved them.

The devoted father jumped to his death on the 9th anniversary of the passing of his two-day-old baby girl. His widow spoke at the Coroners Court in Ennis, describing him as an “amazing father who adored our three boys and myself”.

The woman told the inquest that the man was loved by all and that they had a “very happy life together”. However, working too hard had led to increased stress on her husband and he became “fed up”.

The Dublin man had been off sick for six weeks from work at a pharma firm after a “burn out” and was due back in work on July 20th this year. He was a Human Resources manager at the firm.

Giving evidence of the final communication that she received from her husband, the widow said that she received a text message at 7.50pm on July 20th saying ‘I love you and the boys so much – I am sorry for everything’.

On July 20th, the man travelled to the Cliffs of Moher from Dublin, unbeknown to his wife, and jumped from the edge. An employee from the cliffs detailed to the inquest that he tried to calm the upset and agitated man down for 20 minutes before he jumped.

“I asked him a list of questions and followed procedure but he at first refused to engage in conversation,” the employee, Daragh Carey said.

In his deposition, Mr Carey: “He moved back from the cliff edge and took his wallet out of his pocket. I tried to coax him to give me the wallet but he said ‘I’m sorry lads I don’t trust you. Tell my children, I love them and tell me wife I am sorry, I just can’t do it anymore’ and he jumped off the Cliffs of Moher.”

The man’s widow said that her husband wasn’t looking forward to going back to work, but that there was nothing out of the ordinary or concerning about it. The man was in touch early in the day to tell her that things were okay, however at 4:15pm he phoned saying that he was “fed up”, and she told him to come home to talk about it.

“He said he was fed up talking about it – that being work – it didn’t sound like that he was fed up with life, just that he was fed up with work. He was asking about the boys and how they were and he said that he would give me a call.” she said.

It was only at 7:50pm when she received the final text that she began to worry about her husband.  She rang him multiple times and left messages before a search was mounted in the family’s area and in local hospitals for her husband by relatives. They also notified the Gardai that he was missing.

At around 1am the following morning, Gardai called to say that the man had died at the Cliffs of Moher after jumping off the edge.

The man’s father-in-law described him as “overworked” and said that he was a “family man who loved his wife and kids”. He wanted to tell the inquest that his daughter and her late husband lost a two day old baby girl when she died on July 20th 2006.

County Coroner, Isobel O’Dea said that she would give a narrative verdict instead of a suicide verdict in accordance with the evidence.

She said: “In order to give a suicide verdict, I have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that someone intended to take their own life and at the time knew what they were doing and that was their sole intention. In this case, I am very conscious of the fact that the man had been off work.”

 

If you are affected by the content of this article or know someone affected, you can contact Samaritans on 116 123.

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