Gas tragedy of pregnant young mum
A PREGNANT mum-of-three texted her boyfriend saying ‘love you, my sexy man’ before accidentally killing herself by sniffing gas.
An inquest heard that ‘volatile’ Kimberley Need, from Oldham, had just been for a 16-week scan before the tragedy.
She had suffered from bouts of postnatal depression after the births of two of her children, to a former partner.
Her new partner found her dead at their home after he came home from work to discover he had been locked out of the property. A locksmith had to be called out to gain access.
Tests showed Miss Need had been sniffing gas. It emerged she had told her sister she used to sniff the gas to get ‘a high’ from it when she was about 12 but had not been abusing it in the weeks before her death.
An inquest was told Miss Need, a former care worker, had developed ‘baby blues’ after the birth of two of her children in 2001 and 2011.
She had bursts of ‘volatile’ behaviour and threatened to self-harm but, although she tried to take her own life with an overdose of tablets in 2016, she sought help, the inquest heard.
Miss Need fell pregnant again earlier this year and was said to be happy. She was due to attend an antenatal clinic appointment when tragedy struck on May 23.
Boyfriend Ben Banham told the Heywood hearing: “I went to work and kissed her goodbye and told her I loved her. I was on the phone to her during my breaks and the general conversation was fine. I rang at 5pm and she had just taken the dog for a walk. She was fine and laughing. She texted me at 5.30pm saying ‘love you always, my sexy man.’ I just thought everything was going well.
“I left work at 7pm but a mate rang me and said she was not answering the phone. I got home. It was quite light outside but I couldn’t see her.
“The locksmith came and took the lock out and I went in first.
“I went in the front room and she was there on the couch. I did CPR until the ambulance arrived but she was gone.
“I didn’t know what had gone on that day. It just doesn’t make sense. She hadn’t sniffed anything before.’’
Miss Need’s mother, Christine, said: “Kim never hurt herself deliberately or selfharmed. I am really shocked about what happened. I saw her the day she died.
“She seemed happy. She was waiting at the bus station to meet me for a coffee.”
The hearing was told no suicide note was found and police found there were no suspicious circumstances. A pathologist recorded the cause of death as ‘sudden death syndrome’ from sniffing gas.
Toxicologist Julie Evans said: “The gas causes the heart not to beat properly and can cause a risk of a seizure.”
Recording a verdict of misadventure, coroner Lisa Hashmi said: “She comes across as very impulsive and a little volatile.
“I have to say I do not think there is enough evidence to say it is a conclusion of suicide.
“If anyone had turned up any earlier I do not feel that the situation would have been any different.’’ Christine, Kimberley Need’s mum