RELATIVES of a couple who committed suicide off Beachy Head following their young son’s death have spoken of their grief for the first time. Three months after the tragedy, the boy is set to become the face of a new charity campaign.
A fund to commemorate five-year-old Sam Puttick is being launched to raise money for research into spinal cord injuries.
Sam, who was left a quadriplegic after a serious car crash, lost his battle with meningitis at the end of May. His parents, Neil and Kazumi, were so devastated that they drove with his corpse to Beachy Head two days later to end their own lives.
An inquest into the couple’s death will take place in Uckfield, East Sussex, on Friday.
This weekend, Neil’s parents broke their silence to speak about their grandson’s legacy. Alan and Mary Puttick said: “Words cannot describe our loss. We miss the three of them every minute of every day.
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“If money raised in memory of Sam was to be used to help other children and their parents in similar situations then it would be a fitting memorial to an extraordinarily brave, special and inspirational family.”
Sam’s fund, which has already received donations worth about £10,000 following the tragedy, will be administered by a charity called Spinal Research.
Images of the smiling youngster will be used to promote future fundraising efforts. The money will be donated to projects, such as research into neuron reconnection, which might ultimately have helped Sam to overcome his injuries.
“We are just pleased that something good can come out of such a dreadful series of events,” said Jonathan Miall, chief executive of the charity. “I am sure it is what Sam’s parents would have wanted. They were always keen to help others in the same position as themselves.
“Neil was always confident there would one day be a breakthrough that would help his son but accepted it would probably be a long time before a treatment developed from it.”
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Sam was paralysed from the neck down following an accident in 2005 when he was just 16 months old. His child seat was thrown out of his mother’s car during the crash near Stourton, Somerset.
Josephine Elias, the driver of a Volvo which caused the collision, was later convicted of careless driving after allegedly being distracted by her dogs.
She was fined £660 and her licence was endorsed with seven penalty points.
After the accident, Neil, 34, and his Japanese-born wife, Kazumi, 44, gave up their jobs to provide their son with round-the-clock care at their home in Brokerswood, Wiltshire.
However, Sam’s death on May 29 was too much to bear for his parents. Consumed by grief, they left an “extremely emotional” suicide note and the next day, a Saturday, cancelled all their social arrangements for the weekend.
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They then packed two rucksacks — one containing Sam’s body, the other filled with his toys — loaded them into their people carrier and set off to the notorious suicide spot near Eastbourne.
Toby Roe, who was best man at the couple’s wedding, said: “Although it was hard to take any positives out of this horrible situation, one small shred of light you could draw was the extraordinarily powerful love Neil and Kazumi felt for Sam. This fund is another.”