A friend of a Perth mother whose toddler son died after falling from a window has revealed heartbreaking details of the boy’s death, describing it as a “freak accident” that could happen to anyone.
Tammy Dower yesterday said that she had spoken to Holly Bishop, a Perth woman now living in Portugal, soon after the death of her son Spencer Devlin on Saturday.
Spencer fell 7m from the window of the second-floor apartment he lived in with his parents, Ms Bishop and her British partner Robert Devlin, in the small resort town of Lagos on Portugal’s south coast.
Ms Dower said Ms Bishop had told her she was cleaning the apartment about 9.30am while 18-month-old Spencer “followed her around like he always did”.
“She had opened the window in Spencer’s room a little bit to air the apartment and let floors dry,” Ms Dower said.
“She said he was playing in the bathroom, banging around on the cupboards. She went to tell him to come out and he followed her back to the living room.”
Ms Dower said her friend had told her she then went back to cleaning but again lost sight of Spencer.
“She thought he was getting up to mischief as kids do when they go quiet, so she went past the bathroom and didn’t see him and then into his room and found he wasn’t there,” she said.
“She panicked and then noticed the window was now fully open and ran over to look.
“She saw little Spencer on the ground with people surrounding him and she ran straight down the stairs to him.”
“His breathing was very laboured but he was breathing. The ambulance was called immediately.
“Holly was distraught trying to communicate with the authorities, as she is in a country where English is not the first language spoken.” Spencer, who was born in Portugal, was rushed to hospital in nearby Faro but died.
“It was a freak accident that could happen to any of us in a split second,” Ms Dower said.
“The laws over there aren’t like Australia. Their windows open freely and they have no restrictions.” The couple, aged in their 20s, met overseas about three years ago. Mr Devlin runs a business in the resort town.
Ms Dower has started a GoFundMe page to help the couple with funeral costs and medical bills.
By yesterday the page had raised $3250 of its $5000 target.
To donate, head here.
This article originally appeared on Perth Now
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