A British couple made a suicide pact after being driven to despair by the wild spending of their mentally-ill daughter.
William and Wendy Ainscow took dozens of anti-depressants before swimming out to sea off the holiday island of Tenerife.
It is believed the couple made the suicide pact before they flew to the island.
The couple were picked up by a fisherman on Tuesday evening off the resort of Los Cristianos.
Mrs Ainscow (65), a school supply teacher, was described as "barely alive" but is now thought to be stable in the psychiatric ward of a Tenerife hospital. Mr Ainscow died, aged 74. An autopsy on Wednesday showed he had taken an overdose.
The former postmaster was jailed last year for 15 months after he admitted racking up debts of £50,000 to fund his daughter Lisa's obsessions.
Aged 32, she suffers from Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism which turned her into a shopaholic demanding designer clothes and expensive meals from her parents.
Appeal Court judges quashed Mr Ainscow's sentence after three months because of the exceptional circumstances of the case.
Shortly after he was released Lisa was sent to hospital under section three of the Mental Heath Act. But after receiving only a few months of treatment she was unexpectedly discharged.
She returned to her parents' former home in Prenton, Wirral, where she refused to attend the rehabilitation clinic as part of her treatment.
Mr and Mrs Ainscow made a previously suicide attempt because they could no longer cope with their daughter's spending antics.
Her parents always maintained that health chiefs had let their daughter down.
Mrs Ainscow told the Liverpool Echo in October 2003: "I think Lisa's treatment by the NHS has been appalling.
"Apart from her father and I, there has been no support for her or help with her illness." - (PA)