{"id":20025,"date":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/uncategorized\/port-lincoln-father-battled-mental-illness\/"},"modified":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","slug":"port-lincoln-father-battled-mental-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/news\/port-lincoln-father-battled-mental-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Lincoln father battled mental illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE (8 January, 4:03pm): Police say autopsy results show father Damien Little and his two sons all had gun shot wounds that were inflicted before their car was driven off the end of the Port Lincoln wharf.<\/h3>\n

The confirmation comes as Mr Little\u2019s wife and mother of his two sons released a statement saying \u201cWords cannot express the pain I have felt since Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wish is for Damien to be remembered as a well-respected and valued member of our family and our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

FULL STATEMENT HERE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

EARLIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Relatives of Port Lincoln man Damien Little have visited the spot where he took his own life and the lives of his two small boys as details of his battle with mental illness emerged.<\/h3>\n

Early on Monday, Mr Little drove his car off the main wharf in the Eyre Peninsula town and into 30 metres of water, killing himself and his two sons, 10-month-old Hunter and Koda, 4.<\/p>\n

His family has now revealed the 34-year-old had suffered with mental health issues for the past three years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“We had noticed a change,” his mother Sue told the Adelaide Advertiser.<\/p>\n

“We tried to help him, we all did. But you can’t help somebody who can’t help himself,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very particular about everything he did. I think he wanted to be perfect \u2014 he wanted to be a perfect father and husband. He wanted to do everything right. He was very hard on himself.”<\/p>\n

Mrs Little said her son \u201cobviously wasn\u2019t himself” on the morning he drove his car off the Port Lincoln wharf.<\/p>\n

“No one will ever know why he did it,” she said. “But he is our son and we loved him dearly. He was a beautiful kid, loving, caring. We are just broken. He had a wonderful relationship with his wife. She really is a wonderful lady and a wonderful wife to him. My heart goes out to her. She has lost everything. I never heard him say a bad word against her. They were amazing parents and she was one of the old- fashioned mothers, in the very best way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The revelations of Mr Little’s troubled life came as others who knew him said he was respected and well liked.<\/p>\n

“It’s just a shocking thing to have happen out of the blue and for no reason that we knew of,” Wheatsheaf Hotel owner Peter Watherston said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“He and his brother used to pop out for a beer.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

South Australian Commissioner for Victims’ Rights Michael O’Connell said the heart-wrenching incident had caused anguish for the family and friends.<\/p>\n

But he also urged people not to rush to blame Mr Little, even those who might find murder by a parent to be among the “cruellest of tragedies.”<\/p>\n

“We do not know the reasons Damien did what he appears to have done and speculating helps neither the family nor the people of Port Lincoln,” he said.<\/p>\n

As well as tributes on social media, locals have created a makeshift memorial of flowers, teddy bears and other items along the edge of the wharf.<\/p>\n

In writing on a football jumper one mourner wrote “RIP Little Legends”.<\/p>\n

Mr Little’s parents and other relatives visited the site on Tuesday as police released two family photos which appeared to show a happy couple and their children.<\/p>\n

In one, Mr Little and his wife Melissa are sitting on a beach with their two smiling young boys resting in their laps.<\/p>\n

-AAP<\/em><\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: MEL MCLAUGHLIN’S REACTION TO THAT CHRIS GAYLE INTERVIEW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: ATTACKER’S SICKENING BOAST BEFORE COWARD PUNCH THAT KILLED TEEN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE (8 January, 4:03pm): Police say autopsy results show father Damien Little and his two sons all had gun shot wounds that were inflicted before their car was driven off the end of the Port Lincoln wharf. The confirmation comes as Mr Little\u2019s wife and mother of his two sons released a statement saying \u201cWords […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[],"geo_market":[],"class_list":["post-20025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPort Lincoln father battled mental illness - FIVEAA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/news\/port-lincoln-father-battled-mental-illness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Port Lincoln father battled mental illness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UPDATE (8 January, 4:03pm): Police say autopsy results show father Damien Little and his two sons all had gun shot wounds that were inflicted before their car was driven off the end of the Port Lincoln wharf. 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