A six-year-old boy excited "he could get free Coke" on a dream family holiday drowned in a resort's swimming pool after wandering off to get a drink.
Little Corey Aughey and his family had looked forward to a brilliant summer holiday in Majorca before the family's lives fell apart.
Corey had only been on the Spanish territory for a matter of hours when he was found in the pool after wandering off from his mum and siblings while his dad took a nap. A heroic stranger gave the lad CPR and Corey regained a pulse before he was taken to hospital on the other side of the island.
It looked as though Corey was improving following a couple of nights in hospital but hope was shattered as tests on the third day showed that the youngster had no brain activity.
Corey's parents Colin and Leanne sought a second opinion on their youngest son's health but they came back with the same prognosis and the little lad sadly died a short time later.
The Belfast boy's death stunned the local community in the tight-knite Ballysillan neighbourhood, which has rallied around the Aughey family.
Speaking to BelfastLive, Colin described his son as the "life and soul of the party".
He said: "Corey was a great wee child. The best way to describe him would be a bundle of energy.
"We have a 22-year-old who is at university in Spain, an 18-year-old, a 13-year-old and then our Corey, who had more energy that the other three put together.
"When he passed, that is what everyone remembered him by, just being the life and soul of the party, he never stopped. You'd be at a birthday party and he would be the last one dancing."
The family of six had landed in Majorca on the Thursday morning and had already had a splash in the pool before Colin went for a nap.
Leanne and the three youngest children - the eldest was meeting them at a later time - made the most of the last hour of the swimming pool before Corey went to get a drink.
Colin recalled that he "thought it was great he could get free Coke" during the all-inclusive holiday but he did not return, only to be found in the pool.
He said: "We were only there around three hours. The five of us went and the oldest son was coming to meet us, because he was in Spain.
"We got there on the Thursday morning, checked in and went to the pool. We then had something to eat, and I went up for a doze. There was only about an hour left of the pool being open, so Leanne brought the kids round to the back pool.
"He would have been running over to the wee drink machine - we were all inclusive so he thought it was great he could get free Coke. Corey was found in the pool, and was taken out and people were working on him at the poolside. A guy called Matt, from Manchester, done the CPR. They worked on him and they did get a pulse back.
"The ambulance came and took him to the hospital, but we were at opposite sides of the island, so it was a long drive. On the Friday and Saturday, some of my friends came over to us and got the other kids and brought them home.
"On the Saturday, we had a bit of hope for Corey, we thought it was getting better, but on the Sunday, tests showed no brain activity whatsoever. We did seek a second opinion, and that came back the same. The machines were keeping the wee man going - he died on the Sunday.
"We flew back on the Thursday with Corey. Back home to Belfast."
Family friends came on the Friday and Saturday to take the other children back to Northern Ireland before the six-year-old died on the Sunday, with Colin and Leanne bring their youngest child home on the following Thursday.
Colin hailed the local community, who set up a GoFundMe page in Corey's name, for their generoisty and the family now want to give back through a charity.
He added: "I used to own a carpet shop on the Shankill, so I would have had this wee army of people in the area.
"They came up with flowers, and bingo clubs were hosting events for us. There was a lot of money raised for us, through a Go Fund Me page, while we were still over there. We want to now give back, through a charity.
"Corey loved his superheroes, he was just so innocent. He was always talking about heroes, so through the Corey Aughey Foundation, he will be a hero."
Corey's parents hope to officially launch a charity in his honour.
They have applied to set up the Corey Aughey Foundation in his honour to raise money to help children learn how to swim and to give back to charities such as the Air Ambulance NI and Children's Hospice.
