Charlie Smith
A BRITISH filmmaker who mixed with the likes of Syllvester Stallone has died after a horror balcony fall in Spain, the Olive Press can reveal.
Carl Whiteley, 40, from Crowle, Lincolnshire plunged from his first-floor flat in Palma de Mallorca on January 29 last year.
After being rushed to the island’s Son Espases Hospital with a horrific head injury, the British expat has since been fighting for his life in a coma.
Carl’s family confirmed to this paper that he passed away on December 22 at 10:15am, after battling with lung infections and fluid on the brain.
His body was cremated two days later on January 24.
Doctors at Palma’s main hospital had been treating Carl for meningitis, epilepsy and a lung infection, and had placed a tube into his heart.
He had also been on morphine and antibiotics, right up until his last week.
His sister Emma, 35, who is based in Crowle and visited her brother a week before his death, described him as a ‘hero’.
The chip shop worker, who made several trips back and forth to the Balearics, revealed that Carl’s family and friends are ‘planning a musical send off’ for him.
“We will do something for him later in the year,” she told the Olive Press.
“Carl’s friends met at my nanna’s grave in Crowle and said a few words for him.
“She was Carl’s favourite person. It was the first place he visited when home.
“He used to come and collect my children and go straight to the cemetery with them.”
In another tribute, Carl’s brother Chris added: “To be such close companions, always made me so proud.
“Whether it’s heaven or on earth, our souls are always together.
“We share that sacred bond, knowing that brothers last forever, love you bro.”
Carl’s partner, Esther Muñoz, 34, from Cordoba, who lived with Carl and her daughter Lucy, 10, described him as her ‘best friend’.
She said: “I can’t describe how I feel because it feels like I’m empty without you.
“You and Lucy are my world.
“We will always love you and I hope when our time arrives you will be waiting for us.
“I can’t wait until that moment comes. I miss you so so much my love.
“Like we always used to say before we go to sleep: see you in a dream love.”
Original reports in the Mallorca press, which have since been deleted, had suggested that Esther had been involved in Carl’s fall, something that she strenuously denied.
She previously told the Olive Press in Palma that her other half could have fallen after a gust of wind or due to being ‘dizzy’ after having a few drinks.
The accountant insisted that reports in the allegations that the pair had fought on the night Carl fell were ‘totally untrue’.
She said: “We argue like other couples, but that’s it, everybody has their own problems.”
She explained that the two of them had only just moved into the central Palma flat where the accident happened and that they were just getting used to their home.
“It was a windy night and two hours before Carl fell, the wind blew the door open and shut and broke part of the wall,” she explained.
“The balcony door was shut, but when I was in bed I heard it open again and I assumed he had gone for some fresh air.
“Then I heard a noise, ran out and saw him lying his head busted, with blood everywhere and I rang the ambulance straight away.”
Carl was well-known for his work in cinema, including for writing the script for the film Empire.
He is also behind the Harry Potter convention DiagCon, based at Manchester’s Printworks.
Wednesday marks a year since Carl’s fall.
