A COUPLE whose family has suffered three tragedies in just two years have spoken of their shock at the sudden death of their son.
Angeline and Maurice Wright, from Heybridge, found their son Marc, 23, dead in the bath at his Braintree house.
The tragedy comes almost two years to the day that Marc's nephew, eight-year-old Ryan Fleming, was killed by joyriding mechanics on the A414.
Then only four months later their daughter's former partner, Mark Dale, killed himself after struggling to come to terms with the youngster's death.
"Whatever this family has done wrong in this life we've paid for it a thousand times over," said Marc's mother, Angeline, who has recently recovered from lymphatic cancer.
The 60-year-old said she and her husband had become worried that her son Marc, who insulated lofts for a living, did not call the couple like he usually would.
"He would ring us every single morning by 10am, so when we hadn't heard from him I knew something was wrong," said Angeline, a mother-of-six.
The couple went to Marc's house, in Victory Gardens, Braintree, but there was no answer at the front door.
They broke in and found their son in an upstairs bath. He died from an embolism – a blockage in his brain.
"He looked like he was sleeping," said Angeline.
Father Maurice said: "The coroner said that could have happened at any time.
"He was always rushing around and I'd tell him to slow down but he just wanted to be doing things all the time."
Marc's parents said he had been a pillar of strength for his sister, Melissa, after the loss of her son in 2011.
"He was so close to Ryan and after his death he wouldn't leave his sister and her other little boy, Sean, in case they got hurt," said Angeline. He even gave up his job to spend time with them. He always said he'd move on himself when Melissa was OK."
With five brothers and sisters, and two step-sisters, Marc was the youngest of a large family and remained in daily contact with both his parents and siblings, even more so when his mother fell ill.
"He was so supportive when I was ill. He always wanted to know where I was and he'd worry as soon as he hadn't heard from me," said Angeline.
"When we'd pop out he would ring us to check when we'd be home," she added. "He may have moved to Braintree but he never stopped calling this his home. He always said he was going to come back one day."
His mother has already cleared out his house of all its belongings. She found a box hidden away containing every Christmas and birthday card he had ever received.
"I couldn't believe he'd kept them all. I was so choked that they meant so much to him," she said.
Marc's funeral will take place on February 12 at St Andrew's Church, Heybridge.
The family have asked for donations towards a bench to be placed in the crematorium in his and Ryan's memory.
"Whenever he was upset he'd go to the crematorium and talk to Ryan, but he'd complain he'd have to sit on the cold ground so we thought this could be for both of them," said Angeline.
