Woman killed by ‘malfunctioning’ Ottoman bed that suffocated her
A 39-year-old woman was killed after a malfunctioning Ottoman bed fell on her neck and suffocated her.
Helen Davey, a mother of two from Seaham in County Durham, England, died on June 7 after she was accidentally trapped against the bed's base.
According to Sky News, a coroner ruled on Monday at an inquest that Davey's death was an accident.
"The deceased was leaning over the storage area of an Ottoman-styled 'gas-lift bed' when the mattress platform descended unexpectedly, trapping her neck against the upper surface of the side panel of the bed's base," the coroner was quoted as saying in his report.
"Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia. One of the two gas-lift pistons was defective,’’ he was added.
The publication reported that the coroner, Jeremy Chipperfield, said unless action was taken, there was a risk that future deaths could occur.
According to The Northern Echo, a publication based in Darlington, Davey was found by her 19-year-old daughter.
“I went upstairs, my mom’s bedroom door was wide open, and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed,” Davey’s daughter was quoted as saying in the coroners report.
“Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up. 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. I managed to pull her clear. I feared that she was dead as she made no sound. I started CPR and noticed that she wasn’t breathing,” the report by The Northern Echo added.
It was further added that when paramedics came to her home, they pronounced her dead at the scene.
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