Mom found dead by her five-year-old son had been ‘broken’ by coronavirus lockdown

A mother found dead in her home by her five-year-old son had been “torn apart” by the coronavirus lockdown, her brother said.

David Simms paid tribute to his tragic sister Katie, 32, who was found unconscious in her living room on Monday, September 28, by her only son Archie.

David, from Coalville, said his sister had been broken by the coronavirus lockdown because she couldn’t visit her parents, NorthantsLive reports.

Police attended the scene in Kettering and said the death is not being treated as suspicious while a report is being prepared for the coroner.

Simms said Katie had been “struggling” for several years after her older brother, Barry Gunn, died in 2015.

Barry had served in the army with the Royal Anglian Regiment.

After returning from a tour in Sierra Leone, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted to kill himself. Later he died in a hospital.

Speaking of his older brother, who was 40 when he died, Simms, who is also in the military, said: “In 2015, my brother, who served at Royal Anglian’s, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Sierra Leone.

“He was quite concerned with it, he tried to kill himself by taking an overdose, then he passed away in the hospital a few months later, they put him on a ventilator.

“She took it very hard, he was only 40 at the time.

“He toured Sierra Leone and what he saw there really touched him and he couldn’t stand up to his demons.”

Simms, a father of two, said his sister was always a loving and outgoing person, but that after her brother’s death it was difficult for her to leave the house.

She also said that the coronavirus lockdown “broke” her since she couldn’t visit her parents.

Simms, 40, continued: “She was very stubborn, but quite outgoing, she loved to go out and socialize.

“But since my brother passed away, she locked herself in and ended up having a bit of a phobia about not really going out.

“And I think Covid-19 broke it to be honest.”

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