Have you ever felt guilty for something beyond your control? Learn from the story of a mother who killed herself due to guilt and find out the power of the guilt and why you should not give it a seat in your heart.
A mother killed herself following the death of her eight-year-old son in a house fire, an inquest has heard.
Kelly Carter, 35 from Cheshire, was found dead in her partner’s home just two weeks after the death of her son, Lucas, at her house in Sandbach in October last year.
An inquest in Crewe heard that the mother-of-one hanged herself at the house of her partner, Andy Hough, a day after telling a friend she felt guilty about Lucas’ death on 12 November.
The hearing heard how a fire had broken out at Ms Carter’s home at 7pm on 29 October – just six months after she moved into the property with her son who she described as a “handsome and kind boy”.
Firefighters who attended the scene reported that Ms Carter had been able to escape the house but Lucas was trapped upstairs in his bedroom.
Both were taken to the local hospital where Lucas died shortly before 5am the next morning.
Ms Carter was initially treated for burns but the inquest heard she was later detained under the Mental Health Act and transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester after reporting suicidal thoughts.
She was later moved to a different hospital in Macclesfield to be assessed and was allowed to return home on 9 November, the Stoke Sentinel reported.
The court heard that Ms Caster had been allowed to return home after the consultant psychiatrist, Dr Sumit Sehgal, did not see earlier care notes from the first hospital and did not know she had said she planned to hang herself.
Coroner Claire Welch ruled that the mix-up – which was caused by a change in NHS’ IT system – was not a contributory factor in Ms Carter’s death.
She also said Dr Sehgal was not to blame for discharging her.
She said: “What I cannot avoid is the significance of Lucas’s death for Kelly and how she felt she would not be able to go on without Lucas. I cannot imagine the distress and trauma she must have been going through after such a traumatic experience – losing her only child.”
Addressing the family, she added: “To have lost Lucas and then Kelly in such short succession is unimaginable from my point of view – my heartfelt condolences go out to you and your family.”
Dr Welch recorded a verdict of suicide.
Source: Independent
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