An NHS worker who previously saved a man's life while off-duty has tragically died after taking heroin, a coroner's court heard.
Adele Sheppard, 34, was a health care assistant at Rotherham General Hospital and also helped a man who was subjected to a serious assault in February 2019. Despite this, she had a difficult personal life which she tackled by seeking help for heroin and crack cocaine.
Doncaster Coroners Court heard how Adele was an 'outgoing and bubbly[ woman who was surrounded by a large friendship group. She was also popular at work, however, colleagues had voiced concerns about her 'going downhill' before her eventual death on May 7, 2021, Yorkshire Live reports.
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In a statement read to the court, Adele's father Michael described how she had been a straight-A student at Blackburn Primary School. He added that around the age of 15, her life became more difficult and she became less engaged with school.
He told the court how she would often not come back to the family home and police were made to get involved in finding her on multiple occasions. By the time she was 17, Adele left the family home and informed her parents that she had secured a council flat of her own.
Mr Sheppard highlighted that the relationship with Adele and her parents became strained and there wold often be points in her life where she wouldn't contact them due to a fallout. At work, Adele was described as "bubbly and lively" by her colleagues whenever she was well.
But, concerns were raised about her time keeping and appearance at work - she eventually confided in a colleague that she was a heroin user. Adele sought help from the Rotherham recovery service Change Grow Live in December 2019.
She began a methadone program with the service but refused to receive any extra support. She remained in the care of her service up until her death - she confided in her friend that she was trying to stop taking methadone.
She added that she felt embarassed to be seen queuing at the pharmacy when she worked in health care herself. At the time of her death, Adele was been in a relationship with her partner Sam Sheppard for around 18 months.
He described Adele as a "loving, caring and outgoing" person who "just wanted to be everyone's friend". He said: "She just loved to be around people, she was outgoing and popular. She loved her friends and had lots of them."
Sam informed the court that on Sunday, May 2, he and Adele went to a party at an unspecified address where the pair drank alcohol before returning to his flat where they were both living at the time. It is understood that a number of people returned to the flat where the party continued, after a while Sam went to bed.
He said he later woke at around 6am the following day to discover Adele was still awake in the kitchen with two friends. After the two men left, he said he and Adele went to bed and he later woke to spend the day with his parents, leaving Adele to sleep on the sofa.
However, Adele remained in a deep sleep until around 7.30 pm, with Sam growing concerned after trying to wake her. He described Adele as "groggy" saying that he had told her that "she didn't sound right".
He claimed that he wanted to call an ambulance but she refused, stating that she would have been emarrased to be admitted to somewhere she might be seen by colleagues. Sam added that he decided to let her continue to try and sleep off what he says he thought was an alcohol related hangover
However, at around 9pm he became concerned when her snoring had stopped and her breathing became weak. At around 9.50pm, an ambulance was called with paramedics attending the scene where they found Sam administering CPR.
The paramedics took over, leading to a heartbeat being recovered and Adele quickly being rushed to hospital. However, it was soon discovered in hospital that Adele suffered irreversible brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.
Her treatment was ended on May 7 and she tragically died at 11.10pm. A police investigation into her admission to hospital had already begun and DS Barnes told the court how difficult it had been.
He stated that may potential witnesses were unwilling to go on record over fears of implicating themselves in illicit drug use. However, officers were still able to establish a timeline that corroborated the account given by Sam.
A toxicology report prepared by Dr Stephen Morley found an amount of morphine and related substances in Adele's samples that were consistent with heroin use. He described the amounts found as "on the lower end of what would be considered fatal".
He said the samples indicate that heroin had likely been used in the 12 - 24 hours before Adele's death. Tests for other intoxicants and medications either found no trace or insignificant trace amounts. He suggested that a death from the amount of morphine found would suggest a 'naïve user' or someone who had lost their tolerance to the drug.
athologist Dr Naomi Carter said her examinations led her to a medical conclusion of death caused by hypoxia and pneumonia resulting from an out of hospital cardiac arrest. She was also satisfied that there was no evidence of injury to suggest third party involvement in Adele's death.
In her conclusion, area coroner Louise Slater said she accepted Dr Carter's medical cause of death ruling it a drug related death. She told Michael Sheppard who attended the inquest: "I hope you look back on the fond memories of Adele and cherish the descriptions made here by her friends and colleagues.
"They are the ones that I will carry with me."
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