Parents relive heartbreaking moment they told daughter twin her was shot dead by their grandad
THE parents of a six-year-old boy who was accidentally shot and killed by his remorseless great-grandad have relived their final moments with the youngster.
Jenny Dees and Andy Metcalf today revealed heartbreaking details about their son Stanley's death and the unbearable task of breaking the news to his twin sister Elsie.
Little Stan had been excited to be shown his great-grandad Sam Grannon's air rifle on July 26 last year, before the weapon was fired by mistake and fatally wounded him.
The retired ship worker, from Sproatley, near Hull, East Yorks, was jailed on Tuesday for three years after admitting manslaughter.
Stanley’s final words were “why have you shot me, grandad” after he “accidentally” fired the dangerously-modified weapon into the boy's abdomen.
The pellet ripped through the football-mad youngster’s stomach and severed an artery.
Now his parents have spoken out in heart-rending detail about Stanley's final moments.
We cannot understand how Sam could have been so reckless with our boy and why he has never offered us an explanation or an apology.
Andy Dees
Recalling the horrifying moment she realised her son had been shot, Jenny told the Daily Mail: "I lifted his top but couldn't see anything.
"I thought he was play-acting and said: 'Don't be silly, Stanley, he wouldn't shoot you'."
As she checked him all over, Stanley turned to Grannon and said: "Why would you shoot me Grandad?"
HEARTBREAKING DISCOVERY
As there was no sign of blood, Jenny initially missed the tiny pellet-sized hole in his stomach.
She continued: "My mum took him off me and he was looking over her shoulder and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"Then his head went back and I shouted: 'Put him down. Something's not right."
That was when they saw the wound in his side.
After telling her mum to order an ambulance, Jenny said little Stanley became more and more distressed and pleaded for water.
Jenny is still haunted by the memory of confused Elsie asked if her brother was going to die.
But she vowed: "He's going to be all right. I promise you."
I couldn’t see anything around me. It was like the world had stopped. I fell onto my hands and knees. I was hysterical.
Jenny Dees
It was on the way to hospital that Stanley went into cardiac arrest as medics battled to save him.
Arriving at the hospital, doctors revealed the pellet had gone right through Stanley's stomach at point blank range, perforating his abdomen and nicking an abdominal artery which caused massive internal bleeding.
Surgeons desperately tried to save him, and managed to briefly restart his heart, but their efforts were in vain.
She had a little smile on her face when she saw us. And then I had to tell her: 'I'm sorry, but Stanley's died.
Andy Dees
Jenny said when she realised he was dead it was "like the world had stopped" and she fell to the floor and became "hysterical".
Sat next to his lifeless body, she remembers begging him to "wake up".
The heartbreak only continued when Elsie arrived at hospital and the devastated parents had to explain that her twin was dead.
Andy said: "She had a little smile on her face when she saw us. And then I had to tell her: 'I'm sorry, but Stanley's died.'"
FAMILY FEUD
The tragedy has since sparked a family feud as Jenny still hasn't received an apology from her grandfather.
Grannon is said to have shown no remorse about the accident, which left the family "broken beyond repair".
He shamelessly posted a picture of himself smiling on a cruise the day after Stanley would have turned seven.
The picture of Grannon and his wife Jennifer was posted on December 22 – the same time as Stanley’s heartbroken parents were trying to comprehend their first Christmas without their son.
Albert, who is known as “Sam”, wrote: “Sam and Jennifer Grannon would like to wish all members of this site a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
After the sentencing, Miss Dees read out an emotional victim impact statement, adding “our whole world has changed forever”.
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She said: “Not once did he say sorry. Now if he did, it would be too little too late. I hope you can live with yourself."
She said: "Our whole world has changed forever. It is unbearable, we struggle to live, to eat and breathe. Nothing will make this better, our hearts are totally broken.
"The pain in my heart is unbearable, I cry and cry and sometimes I think I am not going to stop."
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