A 25-YEAR-old mum-to-be and her unborn baby were found tragically dead in between a bed and a wall.
Emergency services rushed to the family home in after Megan Gardiner’s body was discovered by her mum in June 2022.
Megan Gardiner was found dead in between a bed and a wall by her mum in June 2022 Credit: WALES NEWS SERVICE
The 25-year-old, pregnant with a 17-week-old baby, had been suffering from epilepsy since she was 13 Credit: WALES NEWS SERVICE
The pregnant woman died after suffering a seizure and falling in between her bed and a wall, an inquest heard.
Megan’s mum, Alison Woolcock, described Megan as “beautiful” and having a “wonderfully sarcastic sense of humour”.
She added: “Megan was ambitious. An ultimate goal was to own her own one day doing make-up.
“She became very skilled from watching plenty of makeup videos as well as RuPaul‘s drag .
“She had a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humour. If she made a joke or liked a joke she would laugh about it forever.
“You could become the brunt of her jokes very easily.
“She got on really well with me and we shared lots of the same interests – interests that she got me into.
“She really supported me as well, with days, and would just be there whenever I needed her.”
Paramedics were called to the family home in Barry, South Wales, but pronounced the mum-to-be dead at the scene.
Her medical cause of death was labelled as a Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, known as SUDEP.
Megan and her unborn baby were pronounced dead at the family home in South Wales Credit: WALES NEWS SERVICE
Megan’s family raised concerns about her health care during the pregnancy at an inquest Credit: WALES NEWS SERVICE
Megan, who was 17 weeks pregnant, had been suffering from since she was 13 years old.
Alison told the inquest that her daughter had not experienced a seizure since April and had appeared to be in good form before the tragic event.
The hearing heard that medics were previously looking into new medication for Megan, but she chose not to take it despite recommendations from doctors.
The medication, sodium valproate, was dangerous to babies, the inquest heard, but Megan may not have understood that it was a temporary treatment to pause her seizures.
Alison told the hearing that the risks of SUDEP had not been directly mentioned to Megan or her, and were mentioned instead as a generalised risk.
She also said that her family were not told about Megan’s risk of “ seizures”.
If they had been told, the mum said that she would have co-slept with her daughter and not left her alone at night.
The hearing continues with coroner Kerrie Burge.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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