THE heartbreaking final photograph of a happy toddler shows him playing with a horse just minutes before he died in a freak fireplace accident.
Carter Walsh, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries on Wednesday afternoon.
1
Tragically, he was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
Neighbours said the lad was being looked after by his older sister at the family home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, while their mum went to work.
In a photo released today, Carter can be seen in the picture meeting a horse belonging to a family friend during a day out with his relatives.
Less than half an hour later, a marble fireplace collapsed on him as he danced with his cousin in the living room.
Speaking for the first time, his heartbroken mum Samantha Walsh, 38, today said of her boy: “He was my best friend.
“He was well-loved, not just by his family but by anybody that met him. He broke the hearts of everybody he met… He was the apple of our eyes.”
Carter’s aunt Natalie Prescott, 35, said he had gone out for lunch at a carvery restaurant with her mum, sister and daughter, Saskia Prescott, 16, on Wednesday.
And he had the “best day ever” when he got to visit her mum’s horses – with photos showing him gazing up at one of them.
Carter was then driven back to his home in Wigan, where Saskia had played with him for around 20 minutes while Samantha was out.
But disaster struck as they were dancing in the living room when the marble fireplace collapsed – after its bottom section “snapped” – and fell on him.