'Loving Mother' of 2 Found Dead by Her Daughter After Being Suffocated in 'Defective' Lift Bed

Mar. 15, 2025

Helen Davey.Photo:Helen Davey/Instagram

Helen Davey/Instagram

A 39-year-old British woman is believed to have fatally suffocated when her “defective” bed closed up on her as she was looking inside of it this summer, according to recently released coroner’s findings.

Helen Davey, of Seaham, England, died in June after the mattress platform suddenly collapsed and trapped her neck, according to reports fromCNN,The Guardian, theBBCand theNorthern Echo, citing the coroner.

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

According to CNN, this type of ottoman bed employs hydraulics to raise the base to reveal a storage space below.

In a statement read during an inquest in coroner’s court, Davey’s daughter Elizabeth reportedly remembered what she saw when she returned home.

“I went upstairs, my mam’s bedroom door was wide open, and I saw her lying on her back with her head under the bed,” Elizabeth said, per theNorthern Echo.

“Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up,” Elizabeth said.

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“I feared that she was dead as she made no sound,” Elizabeth said. “I started CPR and noticed that she wasn’t breathing.”

The Guardianreported that, Davey, a beautician and a mother of two, was pronounced dead at the scene after first responders arrived.

Robert Casson, Davey’s dad, addressed the court via a statement, according to theNorthern Echo: “She was very independent, a strong individual with strong opinions and fiercely loyal. She was a loving mother to Elizabeth and [son] George.”

In his report, Chipperfield, the coroner, wrote that based on the inquest’s conclusion Davey’s death had been ruled “accidental,” adding that “the existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms whose failure presents risk to life" was a matter of concern.

He also wrote that future deaths like Davey’s could happen again “unless action is taken.”

“In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action,” Chipperfield wrote to the Department for Business and Trade.

The name of the manufacturer of the gas piston ottoman bed involved in the June accident was not mentioned in Chipperfield’s report.

Days after the death of her mom, Elizabeth wrote on Facebook, according toThe Guardian: “No words would ever describe how we are feeling. I can’t even begin to process that it’s real and your [sic] not just going to walk through the door.”

source: people.com