Featured Image Credit: Family Handout
Topics: Mental Health, UK News, Health, Parenting
Britt Jones
This article contains mentions of suicide that some readers may find upsetting
When a mom didn’t do one certain thing on social media, her entire family knew something wasn’t right and later, they made the tragic discovery of her dead body at her home.
This devastating occurrence happened just days before Christmas in 2022, when Katy Gough hadn’t been answering her texts or calls from concerned members of her family.
The mom, from Greater Manchester, UK, was known as the ‘Green Diva’ and would always be wearing all things green.
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32-year-old Katy was sadly found unresponsive at her home by her family, with it being suggested that she died from suicide.
Her mom, Elaine Beech, spoke about the ‘wake of devastation’ that resulted from her death to the Manchester Evening News.
She said: “We went round and broke in and found her. She had the best life. For her to do what she did, she must have been so depressed.
“She had split up from her partner, but apart from that, to me she was just normal Katy. Even her sister Ashley didn’t know and they were so close. It just came as a complete shock. She kept it all to herself.”
Elaine continued, mentioning her love of green: “It was just her favourite colour. Everywhere she went, she had green on. Her nails were painted green, she dressed in green, everything she wanted to do was green.
"We got her a green coffin; she would have been happy with that.”
Describing her as a ‘very funny’ person who was loved by all, Elaine explained that Katy’s daughter Lola, who was two-years-old at the time of her death, is now starting to ask questions about her mom and how she passed away.
She explained: “Last week she wanted to know how her mummy died. She said, ‘Grandma, how did my mummy die?’ She says she wants her mummy whenever she sees pictures of Katy. We have photos all around the house. It was a devastating shock to her.”
And it was in relation to Lola when the family realized that something wasn’t right.
This was was when Katy didn’t comment on a Facebook picture of her daughter meeting Santa Claus - something that was very out of character of the mom.
That is what ultimately triggered her family to break into her home and make the tragic discovery.
Lola, who is now aged four, was also the reason that on August 10, Katy’s friends walked Scafell Pike to raise funds for Child Bereavement UK, who is supporting the child with her loss.
Even though the group started out hoping to raise £1,000, the group ended up donating £3,150 ($4,077) to the bereavement charity.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741