Dad's devastating double loss as daughter dies in bed horror after tragedy involving son

A heartbroken father, who has now lost both his children to tragic accidents, has spoken out about the incomprehensible grief he faces. Robert Casson, 66, shared his sorrow over the loss of his daughter Helen Davey, 39, and son Luke Casson, who died thirteen years before his sister at the age of 16.

Mum-of-two Helen was tragically killed in a rare accident involving a faulty ottoman bed that collapsed, leaving her suffocated between the mattress and bed base. The tragedy occurred in June this year at her Seaham home in County Durham.

Her body was discovered by her eldest daughter Elizabeth, 19. She was eulogised next to where her brother's ashes had been placed.

Luke lost his life to a severe brain injury following an incident where his moped struck a telegraph pole close to their home.

Before laying his daughter to rest, an inconsolable Mr Casson expressed: "Our hearts are broken as we bury our two beloved kids today. Helen only 39 died 6 June 2024. Luke was 16 and died 21 May 2011.", reports the Mirror.

"Both lost in tragic accidents and will be missed our whole lives. Our love and thanks go out to everyone who has contacted us with messages, cards and flowers. There are no words that cover it."

Nearly 13 years after the loss of Luke, who died in a tragic accident shortly after passing his provisional test, Helen's family is grappling with another devastating event. Luke had taken evasive action on his moped to avoid an oncoming Range Rover but subsequently lost control and collided with a wooden telegraph pole in Hutton Henry, County Durham.

Mr Casson is now facing the pain of his daughter's death, which occurred when a gas-lift piston on her ottoman bed malfunctioned, causing the frame to collapse during an incident at her home, as detailed at her inquest.

Elizabeth recounted the harrowing moment she discovered her mother at Crook Coroners' Court: "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.

"Her legs were bent as if she was trying to get up. I dropped everything that I was holding and tried to lift the top of the bed off her head. The bed was no longer a soft close and could fall heavily if it was released.

"It was so heavy for me to lift it up and try to pull her out. I managed to lift it up enough to use my foot to support it. I noticed that her face was blue with a clear indent on her neck from the frame. I managed to pull her clear. I feared that she was dead as she made no sound. I started CPR and noticed that she wasn't breathing."

Helen, who also had an 11 year old son, was described by her father at the inquest as "very independent, a strong individual with strong opinions and fiercely loyal". Following the tragedy, Elizabeth posted on Facebook that she and her brother were struggling to "process what had happened".

The post read: "No words would ever describe how we are feeling,' she said. 'I can't even begin to process that it's real and your not just going to walk through the door.

"Mine and George's best friend from day one, I will always wish we had more time together and that you were still by our side supporting us through everything as always. I hope you know how much I love you and that I'd do anything for one more cuddle. Until we meet again my angel."

Senior coroner for Durham, Jeremy Chipperfield, has written to the Government warning there is a risk of other deaths unless action is taken. He said it was his duty to raise concerns with the Office for Product Standards at the Department for Business and Trade about "the existence and use of gas piston bed mechanisms whose failure presents risk to life.

"I find that it's likely that it (the bed) pushed her down, possibly forwards to start with. It is difficult to imagine how she ended up on her back. It may have been part of a struggle that took place while she was trying to get up."

"It is easy to see, I think, how being in that position, however, that arose, it would have been hard to stand up when she is on her back under a bed frame which I understand was quite heavy."