THE FAMILY of a Wombwell woman who was found dead in her daughter’s home didn’t know she had previously experienced suicidal thoughts until her inquest this week.
Amanda Burkinshaw, 52, from Wortley Avenue, was discovered dead on November 22 at her daughter Emily’s house, where she was house-sitting while Emily was on holiday with her brother Joshua.
Her husband Gary found her after becoming concerned he hadn’t heard from her.
Monday’s inquest, held at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre, confirmed hanging was the main medical cause of death.
Popular Amanda, known as Mandy, had a long-running battle with depression, anxiety and stress which was made more difficult due to her diagnosis and subsequent successful treatment of breast cancer in 2011.
She was also facing chronic pain due to severe back problems.
Senior mental health nurse Margaret Mealey, from the Single Point of Access team based at Lundwood Health Centre, met with Mandy in February of last year to help her plan her treatment.
A full mental exam was carried out as part of the meeting.
She said: “Mandy said she had been feeling thoughts of suicide for a long time but at the time of assessment, had no plan or intent to act on it and those thoughts had abated. Her children were a protective factor and she was planning to engage with other services.
“I thought she was very low risk, obviously in the long term she’d had low mood and anxiety and had been feeling low level thoughts of suicide but had no plan or intent. She had been forward planning and was looking to engage with the pain clinic and looking at different approaches to pain relief like CBT. She had planned to meet a surgeon for further investigation into managing her pain.
“It is very clear her family was a protective factor. Feeling like a burden can sometimes be typical of a situation like this and does fit with her presentation. Clients do sometimes feel they can’t live the life they want to live and that is not reflective of their commitment to their family.”
PC Paul Carpenter responded to the scene of Mandy’s death.
He said a note was discovered and there was no ongoing investigation.
The note referred to her intent to take her own life and the ongoing struggle with chronic pain.
Assistant coroner Abigail Combes recorded a conclusion of suicide.
She said: “I can imagine it is not easy for family under these circumstances and I think it is apparent, far from anything else, that it was a battle with pain she was trying to live with on a daily basis.
“From the evidence we have heard it is evident how much she loved her family and that kept her going longer than she might otherwise have done. I am hopeful you can now move on a bit and think of better memories with her.”
Mandy’s daughter Emily said: “This result was as we expected. The only thing I picked up on is how we didn’t know she was feeling like that. We knew she was feeling low but obviously it wasn’t something she felt she could really tell her family.”
Mandy’s husband Gary said: “All the forward planning she had, I can’t understand how she still could have been planning out a future for her family and herself.”
