A woman who took her own life after being forced to live in a tent when she and her partner lost their jobs due to the pandemic "fell through the cracks".
Angela and Michael Winter were made homeless and had been sleeping outside for nearly a month before Mrs Winter committed suicide.
She was discovered by her husband, who was in such a state of shock and grief that he sat with her body for three days.
The heartbreaking story has sparked an outpouring of upset across the country, with homeless charities in the town where the pair were living saying the situation is grim, Staffordshire Live reports.
John Anderson, chairman of homeless charity Burton Hope, said: "I really do feel for this poor lady.
"We at Burton Hope see so many people driven to despair over the situation they can find themselves in, through no fault of their own.
"There is not enough help out there officially and much care is left to charities like ours.
"The pandemic exacerbated many people's mental health problems, compounded by them finding themselves in situations they see no way out of.
"This lady had not been to us for help at that time but I sincerely wish she had."
Homeless charity Burton YMCA says people needing to use its food bank has increased 'massively' following the covid pandemic putting many people out of work - such as the Winters.
The charity says anyone collecting food parcels is given a leaflet with helplines for those who are struggling.
A spokesman for the charity said: "Unfortunately our food bank usage has increased massively, a lot of that will be due to covid, loss of jobs and the cost of living getting higher.
"In January we issued the highest number of parcels ever for that period, around 340 parcels issued.
"In the bags we pop a leaflet inside which gives people some helplines to contact if they are struggling. If they divulge information while collecting bags we try and signpost them to the correct services too."
Worried Mr Winter had searched for his wife when she stormed off after an argument unable to cope with their dire situation and eventually found her dead near a children's play area at the Washlands not far from Burton town centre.
She had taken an overdose of her prescribed medication and had been dead for between six and three days when he found her.
Grief-stricken Mr Winter tried to commit suicide before wrapping his wife's body in their tent and staying by her side for three days before reporting her death to the police.
An inquest into her death heard on Tuesday, February 15, the couple had lost their jobs during the pandemic and by March 2021 had to leave their rented house in Oak Street, Burton, to say with Mr Winter's family.
But due to disagreements the couple moved out on June 1 and ended up sleeping rough until June 24 when Mrs Winter said she had had enough of sleeping outside and stormed off. Her husband eventually found her on June 29.
Other readers have been reacting to the tragedy:
Helen Rose wrote: "Victims of a lockdown. How terribly sad."
Abu Isa said: "What a crazy world we live in, where recent reports show rich people have been making even more money during the pandemic than ever before.
"Such a sad read, this is nothing more than a systematic failure with the divide between rich and poor getting bigger and bigger. This is the fruits of capitalism."
Mick Lcfc Paget said: "So very sad. Let down by the system that was supposed to help."
Saeeda Sadaff Shah said: "How devastating is this? No one helped. Where is welfare? Does no-one have any compassion?"
Pam Smith said: "Too many people they could have been given grace to be allowed to stay in their home until restrictions were eased. Terrible loss of life."
Margie Cotton said: "System failure yet again. Those poor people had nowhere to turn. Those up high while partying away in lock down, 'Hang your heads in shame'."
Craig Wheatley said: "Sad especially when the government said that they would help people. And asking banks to help people as well."
Homeless charity Burton YMCA says people needing to use its food bank has increased "massively" following the covid pandemic putting many people out of work - such as the Winters.
The charity says anyone collecting food parcels is given a leaflet with helplines for those who are struggling.
A spokesman for the charity said: "Unfortunately our food bank usage has increased massively, a lot of that will be due to covid, loss of jobs and the cost of living getting higher.
"In January we issued the highest number of parcels ever for that period, around 340 parcels issued.
"In the bags we pop a leaflet inside which gives people some helplines to contact if they are struggling. If they divulge information while collecting bags we try and signpost them to the correct services too."
Burton MP Kate Griffiths has been approached for comment.
If you need help
CALM (0800 58 58 58) thecalmzone.net has a helpline for men who are down and who need to talk or find information and support. They're open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year.
