A three-year-old girl survived for four days on bread and butter after her mum took her own life, an inquest has heard.
Aimee Louis Evans, a 29-year-old mum of two from Port Talbot, Wales, was found dead at her home by police, who also found the little girl struggling to survive.
When police arrived at the property, they found Aimee’s body in one of the bedrooms.
PC Clive Morris, of South Wales Police, said:
I became increasingly aware of the three-year-old’s well-being – the child had been there for three to four days and she was unkempt.
She was taken to hospital to be checked by a paediatrician.
PC Morris said he believed the girl managed to survive by eating loaves of bread and some butter. Aimee’s other child, her son, was with his father at the time.
The inquest heard Aimee had sent a text message to her mum in April, asking her to collect her three-year-old daughter because she was ‘ending it’. Aimee’s mum replied saying ‘do not be daft’, and asking her what the matter was.
Sadly, it was the last time the pair spoke, despite many attempts from Aimee’s mum to make contact with her daughter, including visiting her house but getting no reply.
The inquest also heard Aimee was last seen alive the day before she sent the message to her mum. She’d apparently been drinking but was not drunk.
PC Morris added there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, and Aimee had no history of mental health problems, as Wales Online reports.
However, it’s being reported she used to drink most evenings, and had apparently been victim to domestic violence in previous relationships.
PC Morris said:
Her mum said Aimee was a happy, outgoing individual that showed no signs of depression. She said her children were always well cared for – that they were were always clean, tidy, and well looked after.
This is one of the hardest cases I have dealt with.
According to the coroner, the post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be hanging, with high levels of alcohol present in Aimee’s blood at the time. The coroner concluded it was suicide.
After the inquest, Aimee’s friend Stacey Ansell said:
Aimee is truly missed by many people. If she knew how many people are heartbroken over her passing she would be overwhelmed.
It deeply saddens me that she felt she couldn’t reach out to any of us.
Another friend, Charlene Coulter, said:
Aimee was a fun-loving girl who had the biggest heart – she would go out of her way to help anyone and often wore her heart on her sleeve.
She always made time for her close friends and loved nothing more than having a get together. Aimee’s passing left a massive gap in our lives – she had so much to live for.
I really wish she would have picked up the phone and confided in one of her friends as we would have been there in a second. Aimee will never be forgotten by any of us – we love and miss her dearly.
Our thoughts are with Aimee’s family and friends at this difficult time.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.