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'Florence Nightingale' carer died after accidental painkiller overdose

A young woman described as being like Florence Nightingale because she enjoyed helping others died of an accidental overdose of painkiller medication, an inquest heard.

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Joanne Helen Sheppard, aged 33, was found dead on the kitchen floor in the house of a man she was caring for in Moxley in December.

Miss Sheppard of Redhouse Lane, Aldridge, had been caring for the man, whose was unable to walk after she met him at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, the inquest was told.

She was found collapsed by the man's daughter who alerted a neighbour to call the ambulance on October 13 2015.

Paramedics arrived and conducted CPR however nothing could be done to save her and she was pronounced dead at the house in High Ridge Close.

The inquest was told Miss Sheppard had been undergoing hospital checks as she had a benign intracranial hypertension brain condition.

Her father Malcolm Sheppard, who was present at the inquest at Smethwick Council House said: "I heard from Joanne on the Monday, she was always so cheerful and she had really turned a corner. She was coping really well with her condition and her medication had been withdrawn."

Mr Sheppard revealed that his daughter had been on holiday and said she was 'absolutely fine' though she had complained of a headache.

"She was like Florence Nightingale. She was always helping people. She was doing so well," he told the inquest.

Senior coroner for the Black County, Zafar Siddique confirmed that the pathologist report found a high concentration of oxycodone, a pain killer used to treat moderate to severe pain, in Miss Sheppard's system.

He said: "It is my conclusion that this was an accidental overdose of a therapeutic painkiller. There is no evidence to suggest that Joanne intended to take her own life."

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