A mother accidentally died from overdosing anxiety pills and wine after refusing to go to the dentist over Covid fears.
Alexandria Pierce-Baddeley, 29, was suffering from a severe mouth abscess but chose to treat it herself; worried that she might get the virus because of her previous medical condition.
The mother-of-one was found dead on her bed in Winsford, Cheshire, after she tried to self-medicate with Propranolol beta blocker tablets, tumeric paste and white wine.
During her final hours, Pierce-Baddeley texted her ex-boyfriend Paul Johnson a photo of a large number of pills with the words, “In 20 minutes I won’t be able to move.”
Johnson said he had ended the couple’s ten year relationship a day before her death, and received a series of text messages from her.
“I never called police as I had come to expect this kind of behaviour from Alex in the past,” he said.
“She had previously threatened to take her own life but the threats never felt real and she did it a few times.”
“The following morning I called her but got no answer and was not able to contact her,” Johnson added.
The police initially investigated her death as a possible suicide, but Warrington Coroner’s Court ruled it as death by misadventure.
“Just recently she had developed a large abscess but would not venture out to seek treatment because she was fearful of the Covid-19 pandemic and the high risk it posed to her,” Pierce-Baddeley’s mother, Angela Dutton said in a statement.
“Instead she was treating herself at home with painkillers and applying a homemade turmeric paste to the affected area.”
Pierce-Baddeley, who worked as a teaching assistant at a special needs school, was described as “vibrant and happy.”
“She was not the type to take her own life – had she made that decision she would have written a letter explaining why,” Dutton said.
“She was fearful of catching Covid and therefore that is an indication that she did not want her life to end.”