RELATIVES last night spoke for the first time about the death of a man as he played with his son in a paddling pool.

Window cleaner Neal Jefferies, 30, was spending a Sunday afternoon playing in the back garden with three-year-old son Liam, when he suddenly collapsed and died.

His sister Katie has now pledged to complete a charity challenge he was planning.

Mr Jefferies’ partner Roberta Sim, 30, who was upstairs with nine-month-old Scott at their home in Ferguson Place, Abingdon, came down to find him lying face down in the pool.

The day before, Miss Sim had returned from a holiday and Mr Jefferies had taken the family out to Sunday lunch after winning a football bet.

She said: “We came back and went out into the garden with Liam and were waiting for Neal’s mum and sister to come round.

“Scott was crawling about getting wet, so I took him upstairs to keep him out of the sun.

“I left Neal standing in the pool, watching Liam.

“When I came back down, he was face down in the pool.”

She added: “When I saw him, I thought he was joking, because he always used to prat around with Liam.

“I shouted his name, and he didn’t respond.

“I have been over it so many times in my head.

“I must only have been gone about 20 minutes.

“I’ve been trying to make sense of it all, but it has been impossible.”

Medical experts said that something caused Mr Jefferies to be sick, and he choked on his vomit.

All three-year-old Liam could describe was that his Daddy “dived into the pool and went to sleep”.

Just weeks before his death in May, he had agreed to do a fundraising skydive for mental health charity Mind.

Now sister Katie, 24, of Mead Walk, Didcot, has vowed to complete the challenge in his honour.

She said: “He was so kind, he would always do anything for anyone, and he was always doing jokes on us all.

“We are very similar, and we used to do loads of fun stuff together.

“I would have liked to do the skydive with him.

“He had already arranged everything and sent off the money, so I will do it for him and his two little boys.”

Meanwhile, Mind is helping Mr Jefferies’ mum Heather, 54, dad Philip, 56, and sisters Katie, 24 and Sarah, 27, come to terms with the tragedy.

Miss Sim said: “We have told Liam that Daddy has gone up with the angels.

“He is doing really well considering he was outside with Neal. Scott is too young to know anything about it.”

To sponsor the sky-dive, go to justgiving.com/Neal-Jefferies