A 79-year-old man took his own life after his two-year-old great-grandaughter swallowed a button battery and died.
Harper-Lee Fanthorpe died in May from injuries suffered after she swallowed the battery from a remote control.
Peter Nicklin's family say he 'couldn't cope' after Harper-Lee's death, reports StokeOnTrentLive.
Peter’s son, Harper-Lee’s grandad Darren Nicklin, said his father wasn’t himself after the toddler’s death - even being unable to attend her funeral after telling his family it “would finish him off”.
Darren said: “You saw the change in him. He went from happy-go-lucky, one of the lads, to he just wasn’t himself. We can’t believe he’s done it.
“He just changed when our Harper passed. He couldn’t cope with it.
“People that age, they can’t cope with losing youngsters, they can’t cope. The day after he said ‘why didn’t they take me instead of her?’ He just couldn’t cope with it.
“We were getting a bit of normality, focussing. He just wouldn’t talk about it. I think he bottled everything up. We’re devastated.
“I think he was thinking about it all the time. He stopped going down to the allotment. He was just sitting in the house.
“I think it just kept running through his head.”
Peter died on August 15 at his home three months after Harper-Lee died. An inquest has now been opened into his death. Friday's hearing heard he had been found hanged.
He was deeply proud of his three children Darren, Carl, and Claire, as well as his wife Pauline.
“He loved all his grandkids. He was very family oriented my dad,” said Darren.
Since Harper-Lee’s tragic death, her mum Stacey, along with StokeonTrentLive / The Sentinel and local MP Jo Gideon, have been campaigning for new laws to protect children from the dangers of button batteries.
Click here to sign the petition for Harper-Lee's Law
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