David and Susan Jeffcock, 80 and 74, tragically died after falling to their deathsTom Kershaw Content Editor and James Holt Senior Live and Breaking News Reporter
09:08, 28 Sep 2025Updated 09:09, 28 Sep 2025
David, 80, and Susan, 74, (pictured) were ‘completely devoted to each other'(Image: Facebook)
The family of an elderly Whitby couple who tragically fell to their deaths say the pair were ‘completely devoted to each other’.
David, 80, and Susan Jeffcock, 74, left a note back at the flat for their solicitor before they later fell 180 feet at East Cliff in Whitby on July 30.
David had been battling bone cancer and was worn down by the relentless pain it caused – and his wife of 52 years couldn’t bear life without him, the family said.
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In the note they left for their solicitor, David apologised for any shock their deaths might cause, but added at the end of the heartbreaking letter – “Susan wants to come with me”.
David’s nephew Kevin Shepherd, 66, spoke of their ‘complete devotion to each other’ and believes they had been planning their deaths for some time, YorkshireLive reports.
He had witnessed his uncle, a retired taxi and bus driver, transform from the jovial and sociable man he once was to someone who was introverted and grappling with everyday life. The couple didn’t have children, so the responsibility of his daily care fell solely on Susan.
Kevin, a funeral celebrant from Rotherham, 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.
“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 He was withdrawn and clearly struggling with the pain brought about by the bone cancer.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.
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“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. 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.
“There was no immediate family to inform but I was named in Uncle David’s will and their solicitor got in touch to say ‘I’m sorry but Mr and Mrs Jeffcock have both passed away’. It came as a shock to lose them both at once and initially I wondered if it might have been a car accident, but the solicitor indicated from the letter that they had taken their own lives.”
David, originally from Sheffield, penned a letter to his solicitor and on their last day, he personally delivered it to the Whitby firm, slipping it through the letterbox.
David, who was a Sheffield native, and in his later years working for the council ferrying around children to special needs schools, lived there for most of his life except for a three-year period spent in Australia.
He met Susan around 1970 after she relocated to Sheffield from her hometown of Hemsworth. They settled down in Whitby in their 60s for a peaceful life
Kevin added: “They loved the place. It boasted a fantastic view across the harbour and out to sea, and they truly felt content there. They strongly felt that Whitby was home. I recall my Uncle David mentioning how you could enter an empty pub, settle down with a drink, and within minutes it would be bustling with people dressed as pirates.”
An inquest into David and Susan’s death will be resumed by the North Yorkshire coroner next year. The inquest, opening in Northallerton on Monday, revealed that their cause of death was ‘multi-trauma’, according to a pathologist.