‘My job on this earth is done’
Tragic words of Grenfell Red Cross heroine found hanged in a hotel
A RED cross worker honoured for helping Grenfell Tower victims hanged herself a few hours after a previous failed attempt was discovered by police, an inquest has heard.
Deborah Lamont, 44, won the Henry Dunant Medal, the Red cross’s highest award, for her work after the blaze in 2017 which killed 72.
She had helped co-ordinate a rescue centre for the blaze victims, catching a train from Wales to London just hours after the fire began.
She said of her experience at Grenfell: ‘Nothing can prepare you for what you face there.
‘The atmosphere was heavy in the aftermath of the fire and a lot of the time the area was still dark with smoke. It was emotionally challenging for me but I was grateful for the opportunity to help them – and I am not likely to forget the scenes I saw – but I would volunteer again in a heartbeat because that’s the reason I joined up.’
Miss Lamont had battled alcohol and mental health problems since her teenage years. They were said to have worsened after divorcing her husband in 2006. She had made a previous suicide attempt.
South Wales central coroner’s court heard she appeared ‘sullen’ and felt ‘claustrophobic’ at the honorary event for her Red cross team at the University Hospital of Wales last March.
The systems and strategic management lecturer at cardiff Metropolitan University sent a string of texts to colleague Jim Rees, with whom she was in a short-term relationship, saying her ‘job on this earth is done’.
She also wrote: ‘Life is overwhelming. I feel like treating myself as badly as possible. I think my life should end so the pain will stop. It’s my time.’
Police found her alive after a suicide attempt on March 28 last year, at the Village Hotel in Whitchurch, cardiff.
She said she had attempted suicide, but police claimed they were powerless to detain her under the Mental Health Act because she was not in a public place. Pc Barry Simpson told the hearing: ‘I could not section her because she was in a private room. Debbie was adamant she was going to ... get help the next day. I left still concerned for her.’
Paramedics and a mental health crisis team decided it was safe to let her stay alone – but she was found dead in her room at 11.30pm the same day.
Miss Lamont lived with her parents in the village of Dinas Powys, South Wales. The inquest in Pontypridd continues.