Dad died from a broken heart

HE died of a broken heart.

Dennis Bloomfield, father of teenage crash victim Dean, never got over the death of his beloved son and today his family are facing up to their second tragedy in four years after the 48-year-old collapsed and died from a heart attack.

It comes just four years after his 15-year-old son Dean, died alongside his best friend Scott Towler in a horror crash on Bishops Hill, Ipswich.

The double tragedy rocked Ipswich and Mr Bloomfield's widow Sharon said her husband could never come to terms with their loss.

Today Mrs Bloomfield and her children paid tribute to the father and husband who they loved so dearly.

The 46-year-old of Burrell Road, Ipswich said she was still in shock. She said: “It was a broken heart.

“After Dean died, Dennis would just sit and stare. He used to play pool and snooker but he lost interest in everything.”

Mr Bloomfield's 22 year-old son Daniel found his father lying in the kitchen of the family home last Monday and called for an ambulance. Despite paramedics' desperate attempts to save Mr Bloomfield, his son knew it was too late.

Daniel said: “Since Monday it has not left my head. It keeps going through my head.

"I have definitely seen what Dean's death has done to this family - and now I have seen this.”

The couple's youngest daughter, 14-year-old Emma said she is gaining strength from knowing her father and brother are now together.

She has written a note to be left in the Millennium Cemetery where Mr Bloomfield's ashes will be placed with his son's and it tells how she is coping with the loss of her father.

It says: “You are both together now and both are safe.

“You both went for a reason but you are both together now.

“Look after each other. Thinking about you every minute of every day.”

Mrs Bloomfield described her husband as the love of her life and said they got married when she was 19 years old.

She said the couple had met when they both worked at Harris' Meat Factory in Ipswich and he had had a £1 bet with his colleagues that he could get the teenager to date him.

Unbeknown to their workmates they were already seeing each other and the couple married at Ipswich Register Office 27 years ago this year.

Daniel described his dad as very easy going and said he like to socialise.

Mr Bloomfield's hobbies included fishing, which he did with both of his sons and darts which he had just started playing again after Dean's death.

The 48-year-old leaves three children Daniel, Emma and Maria, 24, and grandson Leighton, two.

Dennis Bloomfield spoke on behalf of the family several times following the death of his son Dean in May 2003.

The 15-year-old Stoke High student was walking with his girlfriend and his friend Scott Towler when drug driver Zulfcar Ali ploughed into them as they walked on the pavement on Bishops Hill.

His girlfriend survived but Scott died at the scene and Dean died in Ipswich Hospital the following day. Mr and Mrs Bloomfield had to make the agonising decision to turn off their son's life support machine. Ali is currently serving ten years in prison for their manslaughter.

Peter Bloomfield, 63, Mr Bloomfield's brother-in-law, said: “Dennis and Sharon and the children have suffered over the last four years since they lost their son and that is something Dennis never would have got over.

“I am sure that contributed to what happened and it is almost like having a broken heart.

“I can't think that anything more could happen to this family - they have been to hell and back”

Mr Bloomfield's funeral will take place at the West Chapel at Ipswich Crematorium on April 16 at 2.45pm.

Anyone is welcome to attend but the family have requested family flowers only.

Donations can also be made in Mr Bloomfield's memory to St Elizabeth Hospice c/o Co-op Funeral Services, 47 St Helen's Street, Ipswich IP4 2JL.

The family have chosen the hospice because it cared for Mr Bloomfield's father-in-law prior to his death.

Do you want to pay tribute to Mr Bloomfield? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.