Woman found dead by her father just months after giving birth to baby girl: 'She lost her battle with mental health'
A young mother to an eight-month-old girl killed herself weeks before her 25th birthday.
Chloe Elouise McDaid, from Wallasey in Wirral, Merseyside, is believed to have taken the drastic step of ending her life on July 2, according to the Liverpool Echo, with her body later discovered by her father.
Friends and family paid tributes to Chloe, who had recently become a mother to a baby girl called Melodie, describing her as an "amazing mother and an amazing friend."
Her mom Mandy, 54, said the 24-year-old was a "very social person who had lots of friends" and the "kind of person who would light up a room with her smile."
"She was a fantastic mum," she said. "I was there when she first saw her and she just could not believe she had managed to make her. She just kept saying 'I did that, I did that.'"
Chloe's friend, Jessica Jones, similarly said, "She was an amazing mum, she was always keeping her and Melodie busy. I admired her as a mother, she was one of those mums who made all her own baby food. Even from when Melodie was tiny she would take her swimming every week. She was genuinely an amazing mother and an amazing friend."
Mandy also revealed that Chloe had registered to be an organ donor, and since her death, had saved the lives of four people. "I didn't think she could make me any prouder before that," she said.
She said her daughter "lost her fight" with her mental health despite speaking about it to her parents and friends, and has called for more awareness on the issue.
"And that's what we want to get across — she was also broken as well," she said. "She spoke to friends about different things that were going on, but it was not until we got to the hospital that we realized."
Since her death, the 24-year-old's family has carried out several charity events in a bid to raise money for mental health support and are calling for easier access to professional mental health services, as well as shorter wait times.
The family is also planning to have a memorial bench installed in Chloe's honor in New Brighton Promenade that will be brightly colored and feature messages such as "you are loved," as well as mental health charity phone numbers.
"We just think it could attract people to go to it if it was brightly colored and if it had ribbons on," Mandy said. "We want it to have messages on it like 'you will be missed' or phone numbers of places for people if they need help. It would mean everything to us if we could get that, it could be a glimmer of hope for someone."
An inquest into Chloe's death is scheduled to be held on October 3.