A woman who had experienced mental ill health was found dead at the spot where her brother took his own life more than 20 years earlier, an inquest has heard. Carol Church, of Lister Green in Newport, was reported missing by her family on February 24, 2022.
Despite attempts to locate her the 54-year-old was not found until the following day near the River Usk in Caerleon. The inquest heard how Ms Church could not be revived and was confirmed dead by paramedics at 3.30pm.
Coroner Caroline Sanders recorded that Ms Church had "a history of alcohol dependency and mental health problems". In 2021 Ms Church was referred to a primary care mental health specialist and assessed. Ms Church described traumatic events in her life and a "number of options" were discussed for her to engage in psychological therapies but the inquest heard she did not pursue these and later declined further involvement with the mental health services.
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Ms Saunders recorded Ms Church's medical cause of death as drowning. She gave an open conclusion and said the circumstances surrounding her death, or how she came to be in the water, could not be determined.
Ms Saunders said: "A post-mortem examination confirmed that Carol had drowned. Her family has indicated that Carol died in the same location as her brother who had taken his own life 20 years ago. However investigations have failed to determine the circumstances surrounding Carol’s death and I cannot find that she took her own life." She expressed her condolences to Ms Church's family.
Ms Church's son, Nicky Church, spoke to WalesOnline in March to call for better accessibility mental health care. He said it was too difficult for families to get support on behalf of loved ones who struggle. Speaking at the time he said: "I think when someone is struggling like that their partners or family members need to be listened to by professionals. I know there are protocols and rules but, for example, we couldn't even get past a receptionist to speak to a doctor when we rang the GP up.
"I don't know what the answer is to improve things for individuals struggling and their families but someone has got to know. Someone has to have an idea for some sort of process you can go through to deal with things like this – especially when you have that initial concern. If we had more knowledge at the time about places we could have gone then we would have sourced that. Our two main ports of call were the doctors and the police and they can only take it so far."
He described his mum as a "lovely and wonderful" woman who loved her family. He added: "She loved kids and loved her grandkids. She loved everyone else's kids too. She was always giving sweets and chocolates to and looking out for the neighbours' kids. She was always doing something for somebody else and always willing to help – she would give you her last penny. That was just the type of person she was."
For confidential support the Samaritans can be contacted for free around the clock 365 days a year on 116 123.
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