Equestrian, 16, kills herself near stables after mother scolded her for riding her pony too fast
A budding equestrian from Wales hanged herself near her stable after a minor disagreement with her mother about riding her pony too fast, an inquest has heard. 16-year-old Brodie Morgan, from Newport, had recently lost her grandfather and a close friend at school. Brodie's mother Emma Webb said her daughter was an "animal lover" expecting "amazing" GCSE results, but was having "problems" with other students in her year, the Telegraph reported.
On March 10, Webb picked Brodie up from school and the pair headed to their stables around 5 pm. Webb had reportedly told her daughter to slow down while they were riding back, leading to a disagreement which led the mother to warn her that if she didn't slow down they wouldn't go to an upcoming show. “Brodie was her usual happy self when I told her she was galloping too fast. I said she wouldn’t go to a show at the weekend if she didn’t slow down,” Morgan reportedly told the coroner at the inquest in Gwent.
According to Webb, the pair "wasn't angry" and the disagreement was nothing out of the ordinary. She said she let Brodie return to the stables so she could have some space to calm down. However, Brodie was nowhere to be found. "I went into the stables to check on her but she was nowhere to be seen. This was so out of character and it was getting dark," Webb continued. Unable to locate her only child, Webb immediately notified the authorities about her missing daughter.
Addressing the hearing, family friend Jemma Ellison recalled how she found Brodie hanging near the stables in Llantrisant, Wales Online reported. Desperate for help, she flagged down two truck drivers who attempted CPR on the teenager. Despite their best efforts, Brodie Morgan was pronounced dead shortly after. The inquest also heard that Brodie had had a falling out with her pals, but she later sent out a message on Snapchat saying, "I love you all so much. I want you all to know how much you mean to me.”
The teenager, who attended St Joseph’s Roman Catholic School in Newport, had been having some problems with her friends. “One girl said they no longer wanted to be friends — there was no malice. They were having issues, I told Mrs Webb I would keep an eye on Brodie,” teacher Laura Floodwater told the hearing. “While riding her beloved horse she had words with her mother, nothing more than a lot of close relationships encounter," Naomi Rees, the assistant coroner, noted. “Brodie’s death is a tragic end to a short life which was full of promise, whatever she had chosen to do I’m sure she would have succeeded,” Rees added. “It is clear from her mother’s statement the joy and pride she felt in her daughter. The tragedy is that she had the world at her feet, horses and ponies were her passion and would have been throughout her life.”
Webb has since launched a campaign to raise money for mental health charities as a tribute to her daughter.