A British tourist died in a “freak accident” after falling from the fifth-floor balcony of a holiday hotel in Turkey on his first night at the resort, family sources have told MailOnline.
Antony Maxwell, 21, had left the hotel room to smoke a cigarette when he fell to his death, while his 33-year-old girlfriend was unpacking inside.
“It’s a nightmare that I just want someone to wake me up from and tell me it never happened,” her mother Jade told her friends.
Crane operator Antony from Maldon, Essex, died from his injuries in the early hours of April 18, despite doctors fighting to save his life after the incident near Antalya, Turkey.
Family sources dismissed suggestions that he and his girlfriend had a fight shortly before his death or that they were related.
Antony Maxwell, 21, had left the hotel room to smoke a cigarette when he fell to his death, while his 33-year-old girlfriend was unpacking inside.
After the incident, his girlfriend was questioned by police, apparently as a witness.
Antony, the eldest of three brothers, known as Tony, is grieving for his mother Jade, a 39-year-old retail clerk.
The family are raising money to help him return home and cover funeral costs and have raised more than £4,500 of a £6,000 target in a gofundme page.
A family friend told MailOnline that Antony’s brothers Harry, 13, and Shelby, five, are struggling to come to terms with the fact that he won’t be coming home, as is their mother.
“Jade is broken, everyone loved Tony,” the friend said, “Jade feels so helpless so far away and with very little information to go on.”
‘He said he just wants to wake up or have someone tell him it never really happened. All she wants is to bring her son home now so the family can grieve.
‘He has spoken to Tony’s girlfriend, who is equally distraught. It’s just a freak accident from the looks of it. They’ll be back on Wednesday, it’s all so horrible.
Crane operator Antony from Maldon, Essex, died from his injuries in the early hours of April 18, despite doctors fighting to save his life.
Family sources dismissed suggestions that he and his girlfriend had a fight shortly before his death or that it was related.
A family friend told MailOnline that Antony’s brothers Harry, 13, and Shelby, five, are struggling to come to terms with the fact that he will not be coming home.
The family are raising money to help him return home and cover funeral costs and have raised more than £4,500 of a £6,000 target on a Gofundme page.
‘We don’t know if the balcony was unsafe or what, but we were told the hotel was checking them all the next day and the railing was very low.
“They had just arrived at the complex and while his girlfriend was unpacking, Tony went out to smoke a cigarette, it’s horrible.”
The source described Tony as “the kind of young man who would help anyone.” He was really getting into fishing and had his whole life ahead of him. “It is a great tragedy.”
A message on family friend Kirsty Quilter’s gofundme page reads: “No mother should have to say goodbye to their child. If you can give anything to help this extraordinary young man return home to his family, where he belongs, “We would all appreciate it.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We support the family of a British man who died in Turkey.”