English coroner warns of death of woman trapped in ottoman bed | County Durham

A coroner has warned that gas piston stools could pose a threat to life after a woman died when her bed collapsed on top of her, trapping her between the mattress and the base.

Helen Davey, 39, a mother-of-two from Seaham, County Durham, died on June 7 when she suffocated after accidentally becoming trapped in bed, an inquest heard.

Durham and Darlington senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield recorded her death as an accident and warned in a letter to ministers that deaths could occur in the future if preventative measures were not taken.

Davey, a beautician who ran her business from her home in Seaham, was found by her 19-year-old daughter Elizabeth, neighbors told MailOnline. She also leaves behind an 11-year-old son, George.

“I went upstairs, my mother's bedroom door was wide open and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed,” Elizabeth said in a statement read to the inquest at Crook Coroner's Court.

“Her legs were bent as if she was trying to stand up. I dropped everything I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head,” the Northern Echo statement continued.

“The bed no longer had a soft-close mechanism and could easily fall over when let go. It was so hard for me to pick it up and try to pull her out. I managed to raise it enough to use my foot for support.

“I noticed that her face was blue and there was a clear indentation on her neck from the frame. I managed to pull them out. I feared she was dead because she didn't make a sound. I started CPR and noticed she wasn’t breathing.”

An ambulance was called but paramedics were unable to save her and Davey was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police later came by and discovered that one of the two pistons that make it easier to raise the bed was broken.

“No words would ever describe how we feel,” Elizabeth, known as Betty, wrote on Facebook days after the accident. “I can't even begin to understand that it's real and that you (sic) won't just walk through the door.

“My and George's best friend from day one, I will always wish that we had more time together and that you were still by our side and supported us through everything as always.

“I hope you know how much I love you and that I would do anything for another hug. Until we meet again, my angel.”

“The deceased was leaning over the shelf of an Ottoman-style 'gas lift bed' when the mattress platform unexpectedly lowered, trapping her neck on the top of the side wall of the bed frame,” Chipperfield wrote in a warning to future death reports.

“Unable to free herself, she died of positional asphyxia. One of the two gas lift pistons was defective,” he added.

In the report, a copy of which was sent to the Minister of Trade and Economy and the Office of Product Safety and Standards, he warned that failure of the gas piston mechanisms on such beds posed a threat to life.