Posted 11th Aug 2009
Dee Anderson
A mother of five killed herself by jumping into the lake where the father of her newborn daughter drowned himself weeks earlier, an inquest heard today.
Dee Anderson, 34, was so heartbroken by her partner's suicide two months earlier, that 'even her maternal instincts were overwhelmed by grief'.
Torn apart by his loss, she took sleeping tablets and went to Leybourne Lakes in Larkfield, Kent, where she and Brian Anderson, 19, also died.
Dee Anderson
'Overwhelmed by grief': Brian and Dee Anderson with newborn baby Alex Clara. He committed suicide in August 2008, and she took her life eight weeks later
The beauty spot held special meaning for the pair, as it was where they took their baby girl Alex, now an orphan to feed the ducks.
She was just four months old when Miss Anderson drowned herself.
Friend Jane Adams, in a message on website Gone Too Soon, said: 'Dee Anderson was so full of life it bubbled all around her.
'She was a devoted mum to her five children, Steve, Bradley, Paige, Alex and her foster son.
'She was devastated when she lost her husband-to-be Brian.
'They had promised they would grow old together and die together with their ashes mixed as one, so she felt she had let him down that they had not kept their plans and he had gone alone.
Dee Anderson
The couple were 'totally in love' but Brian's death caused Dee to 'overcome her maternal instincts' and drown herself
'When I last saw Dee, she was just a shadow of her former self, under normal circumstances I do not think she would have dreamt of leaving the children, but she was such a deeply caring person and could not live with the heartache and guilt she felt for Brian.'
Miss Anderson had lived in Kent for just two years after moving from Lewisham, south London for a fresh start.
She fell in love with her neighbour, Brian, and they had a baby girl together.
Friends described them as 'totally in love with each other'.
But an inquest at Maidstone today, revealed that she was 'torn apart' after Brian Anderson, who shared her surname but was not related, drowned on August 22 last year.
Coroner Roger Sykes, who handled both inquests, said she could not cope with life without him.
'I know how badly affected Dee had been, to the extent that, though she had a very young baby, her feelings of grief overwhelmed her maternal instincts,' he said.
The hearing was also told that concerned social services had contracted Ms Anderson's friend, Sally Martin, to help care for her children after Brian's death.
Mr Sykes said Dee had mentioned to Miss Martin her wish to 'join' Brian and that she had written a note three days before her death which indicated she was contemplating taking her own life.
After Brian's death, she had left a message on social networking site Bebo just after he died, saying she would 'be with him soon'.
The tribute read: 'You've been my will to live. Rest in peace babe i will be with you soon, forever& truly yours, x dee x.'
An autopsy revealed she had taken a potentially fatal dose of sleeping tables, which Mr Sykes said was a contributory cause of her death.
The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205787/Heartbroken-mother-drowns-beauty-spot-partner-committed-suicide-weeks-earlier.html#ixzz0NtLSPxSL
