Mother-of-seven who was struggling with lockdown has passed away after getting hit by a train.
As Victor Jamie Cullingham explained, his 41-year-old partner, Sammi-Jo Edwards from Wellington, England, “spent all of her time at home” after getting laid off when the pandemic started.
Since March, the mother was reportedly struggling with lockdown whereas she started drinking “14 to 15 cans of lager most days.”
As the inquest heard, the 41-year-old died on the evening of June 28 after grabbing her keys and leaving her family home. Later that evening, she got fatally hit by a train while attempting to pass the railroad at a crossing.
According to the post mortem, Edwards’ blood alcohol concentration was over three times above the legal limit for driving in the country at the time of the incident.
As senior coroner Tony Williams insisted, the mother’s “intention at that time has not been established.” However, suicide has been ruled out.
According to Mr. Cullingham, he doesn’t believe that his partner committed suicide, whereas she didn’t leave any notes or messages indicating that she was about to take her own life.
The inquest also heard how Karen Kingdom, Edwards’ friend and neighbor, called the mother on the night of the incident.
Kingdom explained how she called her upset neighbor and urged her to come home to her children after the 41-year-old was already by the rail tracks.
After Kingdom started her car and left for the railway to pick up her friend, she reportedly heard a train horn go off in the background.
As the driver of the train, Matthew Sutton, explained, he saw “a person who appeared to be squatting, crouching down, clear of the line but posing an extreme danger.”
After hitting the emergency brakes, he reportedly “didn’t feel a bump” and wasn’t sure whether the woman was actually struck or not.
According to Mr. Cullingham, the death of his partner was “a total accident.”
“It seems the train came along, she stood up, stumbled and put her arms out, hitting the side of the train. It was a total accident,” he said.
Sending prayers and words of support for the family during these tough times.
Replaced!