Lucy Devine
The father of a mom who was killed by a malfunctioning bed has spoken out about her death.
Helen Davey, from the UK, tragically died when she suffocated after becoming trapped between the mattress platform and the base of her Ottoman-style bed.
The design features a mechanism that opens to reveal storage space underneath the mattress.
Although it is designed to gently close, a defective gas piston resulted in Helen's bed malfunctioning.
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It's believed that Helen, 39, was leaning over the storage area when the mattress platform came down on her at her home in northeast England.
Helen's daughter Elizabeth said during a court proceeding in the case: "I went upstairs, my mam’s bedroom door was wide open and I saw her lying on her back with her head turned under the bed. Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up."
She continued: "I dropped everything that I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head. The bed was no longer a soft close and could fall heavily if it was released.
"It was so heavy for me to lift it up and try to pull her out. I managed to lift it up enough to use my foot to support it. I noticed that her face was blue with a clear indent on her neck from the frame."
Durham and Darlington senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said in her findings one of the bed's two gas-lift pistons was 'defective', ultimately causing the 'unexpected' accident.
Chipperfield added the incident led to Helen 'trapping her neck against the upper surface of the side panel of the bed’s base'.
The 4 October inquest declared Helen's death as accidental after dying of 'positional asphyxia'.
Helen's father has since spoken about the heartbreak of losing his daughter, explaining that the family had also lost son Luke in a tragic accident years earlier when he was aged just 16.
Helen was laid to rest alongside her brother's ashes earlier this year.
According to ChronicleLive, Robert said ahead of the funeral: "Our hearts are broken as we bury our two beloved kids today. Helen, only 39, died 6 June 2024. Luke was 16 and died 21 May 2011.
"Both lost in tragic accidents and will be missed our whole lives. Our love and thanks go out to everyone who has contacted us with messages, cards and flowers. There are no words that cover it."
Speaking about the incident, a spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade in the UK said they would aim to prevent future tragedies.
They said: "This is a horrible tragedy and we’d like to express our sympathy to Helen's friends and family. We’re carefully considering the coroner’s report to understand the circumstances in this case and if there is anything we can do to prevent tragedies like this in the future we will respond fully before the deadline."
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.