Eastbourne mum dies after lethal overdose

Natasha Hardman’s young daughter and a neighbour tried to save her life by performing CPR, an inquest heard last week.

The court at Eastbourne Town Hall heard Natasha, a 41-year-old recovering addict, had been to a rehabilitation centre and was trying to stay off alcohol, heroin and cocaine.

Her neighbour Elizabeth Bredemeier said she had spoken to Natasha, who worked as a carer, days before her death.

“I told her what an excellent job she was doing,” she said in a statement.

“She told me rehab was hard and she’d managed to address some issues but was finding it very hard.”

Then on May 15, Elizabeth said she received a worrying phone call saying Natasha was unresponsive.

In her statement she said she knocked on the door and was let into the house in Tintern Close by one of Natasha’s daughters.

Natasha’s other daughter was upstairs giving her mother CPR, she said.

Elizabeth called 999 and started CPR herself until paramedics arrived, the inquest heard.

The ambulance crew was able to get Natasha breathing again and she was taken to hospital, where she sadly died.

A toxicology report found traces of heroin, cocaine, Diazepam, and cannabis in her bloodstream.

A post mortem by Dr Zainab Ali said her cause of death was opiate toxicity and aspiration pneumonia.

She also suffered from PTSD due to traumatic experiences in her life, according to a statement from her doctor.

Coroner Alan Craze concluded Natasha died due to dependence on drugs.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, Talk To Frank may be able to help.

Call the charity on 0300 123 6600 or visit its website www.talktofrank.com.