A LOVING father was frantically trying to rescue his 11-year-old son when he plunged to his death from a hotel balcony in Portugal.
An inquest heard how 36-year-old Eden Lionel Bruce panicked when he realised his son, Sam, had locked himself into their second floor apartment and decided to climb across to reach him from a balcony.
He lost his balance and fell six metres to his death, landing on the gravel below.
The impact of the fall damaged his back, and he was later shown to have a fractured skull and brain damage.
The tragic turn of events happened two years ago in August at around midnight, when Eden, of Pochard Rise, Norton, Runcorn, had been enjoying a 'happy' family holiday.
Nine days earlier he had travelled with his son, wife Sharon, daughter Macey and mother and father-in-law for a fortnight in Lagos.
Mrs Bruce, his wife of three years, said: 'Everything had been going really well and everyone had been enjoying themselves.'
On the day the tragedy happened, the family had taken a trip out to Sea World to celebrate Macey's first birthday and went for an early evening swim on what was described as an 'excruciatingly hot' day.
The inquest heard that later at about 11.40pm, Sam had gone to bed and was left alone for just 10 minutes in his hotel room while his parents ordered a jug of sangria and Sharon's parents looked after Macey.
But when they returned and tried the key in the lock, the door wouldn't open. Despite desperately shouting Sam and trying to ring him from reception, they got no reply.
Mrs Bruce said: 'We later found out that the phone in his room had been disconnected, and because the key was on the inside of the door the receptionist couldn't use the master key.
'Eden asked if he could break down the door, but she said he couldn't.
'He was very worried and the last thing he said to me was that he was going downstairs for a cigarette, and I remember thinking it was strange.
'Eden was normally very calm and conducted in his thinking.
'We'd only had four or five drinks over a period of a few hours, and this wouldn't have affected him.
'A lady from the next room then came out and said not to panic, but my husband had tried to climb from their balcony.
'When I went downstairs there was a big crowd around Eden. I was told he'd tried to climb up the outside of the building.'
The 15-stone telecommunications salesman was born in Durban, South Africa, and lived in Oldham before moving to Runcorn.
Janet Napier, deputy coroner for Cheshire, said: 'There are still unanswered questions as to how he got on to the balcony, but it was a terrible nightmare and tragedy.'
Verdict: Accidental death.
