In the early evening of July 30th, David and Susan Jeffcock set out together from their flat overlooking Whitby Harbour to make what they knew would be their final journey in life together.
The couple had prepared for this day meticulously, cleaning their apartment and leaving a letter for their solicitor, explaining the drastic step they were about to take.
They walked together over the bridge across the harbour and slowly negotiated the 199 steps up to Whitby Abbey, pausing to smile and nod at someone walking in the opposite direction.
David, 80, and Susan, 74, walked behind the abbey, slipped through a fence and stood briefly at the top of East Cliff before joining hands and leaping 180ft to their deaths.
Their family have told their heartbreaking story to the Daily Mail, revealing that David had been battling bone cancer, becoming worn down by the constant pain it brought – and his wife of 52 years was simply unable to live without him.
In the courteous note they left for their solicitor, David apologised for any shock their deaths may cause, but added: ‘Susan wants to come with me.’
David’s nephew Kevin Shepherd, 66, told of their ‘complete devotion to each other’ and believes they had been planning their suicide carefully for some time.
He had seen his uncle, a retired taxi and bus driver, reduced from the cheerful and outgoing man he had once been to someone who was withdrawn and struggling with daily life.
David, 80, and Susan, 74, (pictured) were ‘completely devoted to each other’, according to David’s nephew, Kevin
The couple had no children so his daily care fell entirely to Susan who could only watch in despair as his condition worsened as the months went by.
Eventually the pain was too much for David to bear and the couple made a suicide pact, with Susan insisting that she did not want to carry on without him.
Kevin, a funeral celebrant from Rotherham, South Yorks, said: ‘It is extremely sad to think of them in that position, where they both wanted to take their own lives and to go together.
‘But a friend of mine reminded me that they had made up their own minds and they did what they wanted to do, which brings some comfort, it was their own decision.
‘They were a very loving and devoted couple but they were also full of fun and outgoing, you’d always find them in the pubs around Whitby enjoying live music, which was one of their great interests.
‘The last time I saw them, my Uncle David really wasn’t himself. He was withdrawn and clearly struggling with the pain brought about by the bone cancer.
‘He told me that the Gabapentin he was taking wasn’t having very much effect and that he was really struggling with the pain. It looks as though in the end it was just too much.
‘We think it’s possible he may have learnt he didn’t have much longer to live and rather than live out that time in pain he had chosen to end it.
David and Susan were not a religious couple but felt they would ‘be together again in some way’. The pair are pictured on their wedding day
‘Between them they had come to the decision that Susan wanted to go with him, I suppose she just didn’t see what her life would be without him.’
David wrote a letter to his solicitor and at some point during their final day he hand delivered it to the Whitby practice, pushing it through the letterbox.
The letter apologised profusely that they had not had time to properly clean their rented apartment. However when Mr Shepherd and his family went to tidy away their belongings they found it immaculate.
He said: ‘They had emptied and cleaned the fridge, leaving the door open so there was no smell, all their laundry had been done and the place was cleaned and tidied.
‘They knew they were not coming back from their walk and they did what they had always done in life, they thought about other people and were considerate right to the last.
‘There was no immediate family to call but I was mentioned in uncle David’s will and their solicitor contacted me to say ‘I’m sorry but Mr and Mrs Jeffcocks have both passed away.
A member of the public spotted a man and a woman on the rocks. With the tide coming in fast, the coastguard arranged for them to be recovered by helicopter (file image)
‘It was a shock to lose them both together and at first I thought perhaps it had been a car accident, but the solicitor said it was clear from the letter that they had taken their own lives.
‘David explained that both of them intended to end their lives and he wrote: “Susan wants to come with me”.
‘They weren’t a religious couple but through my work as a celebrant I know that often people, whether they have a faith or not, feel they will be together again in some way in a place where they’re at peace.’
David was born and bred in Sheffield, where he lived until his retirement, save from a three year stint in Australia.
He became one of the UK’s ‘£10 poms’ who emigrated down under through the Australian government’s Assisted Passage Scheme.
He worked as a postman before returning to Sheffield where he found work as a taxi driver and then with the city council as a bus driver, where he served 21 years ferrying the elderly to and fro – and children to special schools.
He met Susan after his return to Sheffield in around 1970 after she moved to the city from her native Hemsworth, West Yorks.
Susan’s cousin Margaret Atherton, 70, from Barnsley, South Yorks, said the couple fell for each other quickly.
Susan’s cousin Margaret Atherton, from Barnsley, South Yorks, said the pair fell for each other quickly. The couple are pictured here
She said: ‘As soon as Susan met David that was it, he was always going to be the man for her and they had a long and happy marriage.
‘It had been a long time since I had seen her – it was 40 years ago, when she and David attended my father’s funeral.
‘As a girl and young woman she was a really jolly, fun person who loved music and enjoyed playing the accordion.
‘When something like this happens you wish you had stayed in touch more, it was such a sad thing to hear but it looks as though their minds were made up.’
David and Susan left Sheffield after David retired and decided on a move to the coast, which both loved, finding a home first in Skegness, Lincs.
However they later saw that a holiday apartment which they had stayed in whilst visiting Whitby had become available for rent and they snapped it up around 10 years ago.
Kevin Shepherd said: ‘They loved the place. It had a fantastic view across the harbour and out to sea and they said that they really felt happy there.
The couple saw a holiday apartment which they had stayed in whilst visiting Whitby had become available for rent and they snapped it up around 10 years ago. Whitby rooftops are pictured by the sea
‘They had a real sense that Whitby was home. I remember my Uncle David saying you could go into an empty pub and sit down with a drink and minutes later it would be full of people dressed as pirates.
‘They loved the liveliness and friendly nature of the place. They weren’t big drinkers but they loved to go to the pub and watch the turns, live music was something they both enjoyed.
‘I don’t know how it came to be that they didn’t have a family, but I know that Susan was a career woman, she had a good job as the PA to a director of Stanley Tools, so it may have been their choice.’
An inquest will be resumed at a date to be fixed into David and Susan’s death by the North Yorkshire coroner.
The inquest opening at Northallerton on Monday heard that their cause of death was ‘multi-trauma’, according to a pathologist.
In July, North Yorkshire Police described how emergency services teams were alerted at about 19:15 BST after a member of the public had spotted a man and a woman on the rocks. With the tide coming in fast, the coastguard arranged for them to be recovered by helicopter.
Opening and adjourning the inquests into their deaths on Monday, senior North Yorkshire coroner Jon Heath gave no further details about the case.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .