The heartbroken father of a three-year-old fatally hit by a train along with his mother last week, has spoken of his grief. 

Donna Oettinger, 41, and her son Zachary died at Riddlesdown rail station in Purley on Friday after she jumped onto the tracks.

Zachary's distraught dad, 27-year-old Mohamed Nasr, revealed how he had learned of their deaths on the Internet.

He said: "A friend from my Facebook page called me at 2am and told me to check the internet. I was just shocked.

"How can I be strong now I have lost my son and my wife?

"There is nothing to be strong for. When you feel your family is gone it is the end.

"My eyes are black. Everything is black now.”

Mr Nasr, who is Egyptian, met Donna in 2001 while she was on holiday in Sharm el Sheikh.

She had planned to move to Egypt with Zachary - known as Zaki.

He Nasr last spoke to his son four days before he died.

He said: “We talked, we laughed so much — like always. Donna texted a picture of him to my phone.

He added: “Even if Donna was sick, it wasn’t my son’s fault. It’s not fair. He was a happy boy.

“She loved me and she loved Zaki so much. She was a very good mother. Donna was so soft, so nice, so lovely. But she worried about everything at one time.”

A friend of Ms Oettinger, who had struggled with depression in the months leading up to hear death, said she had repeatedly pleaded with doctors for help.

She said: “It could have been avoided. It was waiting to happen because she has been let down, not by her family – they were the most supportive family – but by doctors and the NHS."