A mum and her 14-month-old son were found dead in their flat after not arriving at a friend's house on Christmas Day, an inquest heard.
Natalie Kane was said to be excited for her first 'proper' Christmas with her 'happy' baby boy Harry. However, on the evening of Christmas Eve, she seemingly decided to inhale lighter fluid and suffered catastrophic effects, LancsLive reports.
Harry died due to dehydration after effectively being left alone. The alarm was raised when Natalie failed to show up at her friend's house on Christmas Day as planned and stopped contacting her family.
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Paramedics were 'visibly upset' at the scene they found in the flat in Whitehaven in Cumbria on December 30. An inquest held yesterday (September 6) heard Natalie died as a result of substance abuse.
The 27-year-old had previously suffered with addiction and had no drugs other than her prescribed methadone in her urine when it was checked one week before her death. However, on the evening of Christmas Eve, she inhaled butane which led to her tragic death.
An inquest heard that Natalie had grown up in Cumbria and attended Maryport Primary School before spending time in the Sea Cadets, which allowed her to travel around the world. She also modelled for Littlewoods and later joined the Army where she served as an HGV driver before being discharged due to issues with alcohol.
Natalie suffered with depression throughout much of her life and was receiving support from services including Recovery Steps Cumbria and Women Out West after suffering from drug addiction and domestic abuse. One friend noted that she was keen to avoid her ex-partner and Harry's father, Nathan Ryan, to avoid repeats of negative behaviours.
All those who knew her and gave evidence to the inquest spoke of her as a loving and devoted mother whose life revolved around Harry. She would take him to the park every day and had no childcare as she wanted to be with him as much as she could.
"Her brother Scott recalled the excitement when she told of her pregnancy and noted she grew up a lot from that point. She was not thought to have taken drugs after Harry's birth and engaged happily with those services.
In the lead up to her death, she saw friends and spent some time with Scott who had brought a balance bike as a Christmas present for Harry. She was excited for a first 'proper' Christmas with Harry and had bought lots of presents for him to enjoy.
On Christmas Eve, she had been shopping at Tesco in Whitehaven and spent some time with a friend. She was due to visit her grandmother but was unable to when a train was cancelled.
On Christmas Day, she had planned to visit another friend, Stacey Hackett, with Harry but stopped responding to messages the previous evening. Stacey was not concerned when the pair did not show up as this was not considered to be unusual and she believed they had instead gone to spend the day with their family.
It was also not unusual for Natalie to go several days without speaking to her family and friends. On December 30, concern was raised over the fact Natalie had not picked up a prescription or been in contact with any of the services and the police were contacted.
An officer attended and could get no response at the address. He spoke to neighbours in the surrounding flats at Wellington Row who recalled not seeing her for a few days.
The neighbour directly below recalled hearing a tap running constantly but no other noises. The officer received permission to enter the property, which was unlocked, and discovered Natalie lying in the living room next to unopened Christmas presents.
A paramedic noticed the presence of a substance in her nose and bottles of lighter fluid, consistent with substance misuse. Harry's body was then found in the bathroom.
Post mortems were carried out and it is believed that Harry may have survived for two to three days after his mum's death before succumbing to the effects of dehydration. In a statement summarised by the coroner's assistant Margaret Taylor, Scott said: "She was one of the best mams I've ever seen.
"She was so loving, thoughtful and caring. The last year of her life was revolved around Harry." Harry was described as a happy baby who clearly loved his mother.
Concluding the inquest, the coroner said: "What we will never know is why Natalie used that butane. She'd done so well, she'd changed her life around, she clearly wasn't abusing heroin which had been her drug of choice."
She said: "Natalie Kane died at her home address on an unknown time between the 24th and 25h of December after succumbing to the effect of voluntary inhalation of butane". The coroner continued: "Harry died as a consequence of dehydration having been left alone following the death of his mother."
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