Mum learned two-year-old son was dying in horror phone call after she popped out for 20 minutes

Speaking for the first time about Carter Walsh's death, his devastated mother Samantha Walsh described the toddler as her "best friend" and "the apple of our eyes"

A mum discovered her two-year-old son had died - amid a tragic accident - in a chilling phone call after she'd popped out for 20 minutes.

Samantha Walsh was made aware of two-year-old Carter Walsh's grave state when her niece rang her on Wednesday. The teenager told her sister Carter had "banged his head" but, in fact, a marble fireplace collapsed - after its bottom section “snapped” - and fell on him at the family home.

Samantha, 38, feared the worst and rushed back to the property in Wigan, Greater Manchester, where paramedics were desperately trying to save little Carter on Wednesday afternoon. However, the boy died in hospital.

Speaking to reporters today for the first time since the tragedy, mum-of-four Samantha said: "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 had enjoyed the "best day ever" with relatives on Wednesday - and got to meet his grandmother's horse - and played with his cousin and aunt Natalie Prescott, 35, at his home when Samantha popped out. Less than half an hour later, disaster struck and an ambulance was called to the address.

Natalie said: "The fireplace, it just collapsed in the middle. It was giving and it’s just collapsed and it’s just come forward. It was a marble fireplace." The property's landlord, who was at the address fixing a boiler at the time, phoned 999 and paramedics dashed to the scene.

Natalie's daughter then called Samantha, who began to panic. Samantha said: "She was very calm at first and she just said ‘You need to come home, Carter has banged his head.’ I don’t know if she was doing that to keep me calm.

“I was waiting for a taxi, and I was on my way home, and then I just kept ringing her. And every time I rang her, I could tell it was serious. She started to panic because she knew I was on my way back.

“I rang my mum. She came and picked me up. And when I got there, they were still working on him – the ambulance and the police. They let me see him, and then they said, ‘Right, we need to get him to hospital'."

Samantha said her mum, who is a nurse, had warned her to prepare for the worst after they found out that Carter would not be airlifted to hospital. She added: "They said, 'We’re going to Wigan [hospital].' I knew then, there was nothing… because they cancelled the air ambulance. My mum is a nurse at the hospital. So she knew as well. So she just said, ‘Prepare yourself when you get to the hospital.’”

Devastated Samantha said when she saw Carter on the ward, he had looked ‘peaceful’ and there were no signs that he had suffered a life-threatening injury. She said: “It was just one head injury.

"But he just looked so peaceful… There was no bruising or anything to his face. The cut was covered over. There were no visible injuries. He’s had loads of checks at the hospital. They’ve said he had been healthy [prior to the accident]. Everything was fine.”

Samantha said that when Carter was born, he had briefly been looked after by foster carers before she took full charge of him. She was struggling to come to terms with her life now the little lad had passed away.

Samantha said: “I had to fight for him back out of foster care. I did that, I got him back, and I’ve spent every day with him since. He’s been with me now nearly two years, obviously. He was my best mate.

“I’ve been back to the house. I couldn’t stay there. I went to stay with my sisters. I went back yesterday to clean up, obviously, because there was blood."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said yesterday that they were supporting Samantha and her family. He said: “At around 2.15pm on Wednesday September 18, officers were called to reports regarding a concern for welfare of a child on Fisher Close, Wigan.

“Sadly, despite the best efforts of paramedics, a two-year-old boy later died at hospital. Enquiries are ongoing and officers are supporting the family at this time.”

A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service added: "We attended an incident at a private address following a 999 call at 14.06. An ambulance, air ambulance, response vehicle, advanced paramedic attended. A patient was taken to hospital by road."