She wanted to be with her son
Mother found hanged after 26-year-old’s suicide
A PROFESSIONAL horse rider was found hanged after being left heartbroken by the suicide of her son four months earlier, an inquest heard.
Faith Done, 55, struggled to cope with the death of her son Alastair and told her husband they should take an overdose of pills together ‘to be with him’.
On May 24, a month after an inquest which found Alastair had taken his own life, Mrs Done was found dead in the hallway at home by husband Nick.
Mrs Done – who organised horse shows and trained animals at her stables in Malpas, Cheshire – had left possessions on her bed for her family including books and clothes, as well as notes to her husband and the couple’s eldest son Andrew.
Mr Done, 53, later gave a statement to police about his wife’s death but in a tragic twist of fate, he was killed in a car crash last month on his way to work.
The hearing into Mrs Done’s death was told the series of family tragedies began on January 4 this year when Alastair, also a horse rider who worked in polo yards, disappeared. He bought a one-way ticket to a beauty spot in Aberdeenshire and sent his mother a text saying: ‘I’m gone, no one contact me.’
His family alerted the police and a major search began, but Alastair’s body and belongings were found on Balmedie Beach on January 20.
Inquiries revealed the 26-yearold had had thoughts of suicide and self-harm. At the time of his death, his mother said: ‘He was bright enough to know what he was doing but obviously we are all devastated.’
Mr Done, in a statement before he died, said his wife started drinking ‘a lot more’ in the wake of Alastair’s suicide. The farm worker added: ‘Faith had always drunk alcohol but when Alastair died she started drinking a lot more. She was normally a happy person but his death hit us all hard, especially Faith.
‘She mentioned on numerous occasions that she was going to hang herself but I never believed she would. She refused all help and put on a brave face.
‘The month before she passed away, we had a conversation about taking a lot of pills and going to sleep together due to
Alastair taking his own life. She said she wanted to be with him.
‘I didn’t see much of her in the week leading up to her death but when I did she seemed very low and quiet. Prior to leaving the house for work I checked up on Faith and she was in bed.
‘I returned home at approximately 7.30pm. I hadn’t heard from Faith all day but that was quite normal. Then I walked in through the front door and that’s when I saw Faith.’
The Warrington inquest heard from Christina Bromfield, a mental health nurse who had seen Mrs Done before her death.
She said she had told her she was feeling ‘numb’, but added: ‘She denied any plans or intent to harm herself.’
Mrs Done’s GP, Nick Dixon, said she made an appointment with him nine days before her death, because she had ‘not been coping well and drinking alcohol heavily’, but cancelled.
Det Sgt Simon Owen, of Cheshire
Police, told of the tragic scene at the family home.
He said: ‘There were numerous possessions laid on her bed and notes. In the ground floor room were several personal papers laid out, personal effects had been put in order and a card addressed to Nick and Andrew.’
Coroner Heath Westerman recorded a verdict of suicide.
An inquest will be held at a later date into the death of Mr Done, who was killed instantly when his Mini collided head-on with a VW van at Bangor-on-Dee, near Wrexham, on October 2.
In a Facebook post after his father’s death, surviving son Andrew, 29, a former winner at the Horse of the Year show, said: ‘My heart is broken, my world has been ripped from me. I love you Dad and I really hope there is a heaven where you can be with mum and Alastair.’
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org
‘She had not been coping well’