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A bed-ridden woman who had the chronic fatigue illness ME told her parents “she could not carry on”, a court heard today.
Lynn Gilderdale, 31, was suffering so much she was determined to end her life, her father told the jury.
Former police officer Richard Gilderdale said the illness had robbed his daughter of any quality of life. Describing her as his “best friend”, Mr Gilderdale said the cumulative effects of ME over the course of 17 years led her to describe her body as “broken”. He said that during those years he and his former wife, Bridget Kathleen Gilderdale, known as Kay, gave unwavering support for their daughter right up until her death in December 2008.
Kay Gilderdale is said to have passed two syringes filled with morphine to her daughter during a suicide attempt at the family home in Stonegate, near Heathfield, East Sussex.
When it emerged that the dosage had not achieved Miss Gilderdale's suicidal aim, her mother searched the house for tablets which she crushed and administered via a nasogastric tube, Lewes crown court was told. In the hours that followed, Gilderdale is alleged to have given her three syringes of air through an intravenous catheter with the intention of causing air embolisms.
Gilderdale, 55, denies attempted murder but admits aiding and abetting suicide. When Miss Gilderale died police were investigating claims that she had been abused by a medic while in hospital. Her father said he thought the alleged abuse was a “major part” in her refusal to go to hospital. The case continues.
