Disabled mum-of-nine’s heartbreaking final words before she killed herself after her benefits were stopped
Jodey Whiting could barely make it through her front door in Stockton, Teesside, as she suffered a brain cyst and a curved spine
THE heartbreaking final words a disabled mum-of-nine uttered before she killed herself have been revealed.
Jodey Whiting, 42, lost her benefits in February 2017 after she missed a health review, an inquest heard.
Days later the shop assistant was found dead after taking a cocktail of drugs.
She had suffered a brain cyst and a curved spine so she could barely make it through her front door in Stockton, Teesside.
I blame the DWP for her death. The DWP has blood on their hands over my Jodey.
Joy Dove, Jodey's mum
Her heartbroken family broke down in tears as they accused the DWP’s actions being the “trigger” for Jodey taking her own life.
Her mum Joy Dove, 63, said at the time: “I blame the DWP for her death.
“The DWP has blood on their hands over my Jodey.”
Today, it has been revealed that she told her mum, "I love you, I'm going to go to sleep, Mam," reported.
An inquest heard Jodey's benefits were stopped even though she did not see the appointment letter.
'THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW'
In the run up to her death, she declined help after warning “she felt like doing herself in”.
Inside the property officers discovered notes left by the grandmother near to her body.
The inquest heard she had overdosed before, but the “extreme stress” inflicted by the DWP pushed Jodey over the edge.
“This was the last straw – she didn’t know where to go,” said Joy.
She became an increasingly regular fixture at her GP’s surgery in the months before her death, along with a hospital stint.
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Yet despite battling back problems since birth, the DWP ended her claims for Employment Support Allowance after she missed the appointment.
Her family have received a full apology from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The DWP accepts it should have responded to correspondence from Jodey and her family before her death, and taking responsibility for the "unacceptable" calls and letters it sent after she died.
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