A ‘clever and funny’ mother-of-one from Needham Market died as a result of misadventure, a coroner has concluded.
Beth Lightbody, 37, died on May 2, 2019, after being found unresponsive in her flat in Jubilee Crescent on May 1, 2019.
An inquest into her death, at Suffolk Coroner's Court, heard she had struggled with a long-running addiction to painkillers.
Her mother Katrina Crouch told the inquest she had battled her addiction for years and had been trying her best to stay clean.
She said: "She was a character - she was very funny, very witty and very clever.
"She was very pretty too but had no sense herself that she was pretty. She used drugs because she always felt she didn't quite fit in. It was like you get functioning alcoholics - she was a functioning addict."
Mrs Crouch said although they were aware of her addiction, Beth would mainly keep it a secret from her family.
She had last spoken to Beth at 7.45pm on April 30, saying she sounded 'really chirpy'.
She tried to call her the next day but could not get through and later received a call from Beth's teenage daughter Freya saying her mum had not picked her up from school.
She said her 'blood went cold'.
She picked up Freya and drove round, finding her daughter unconscious in bed so called 999.
Paramedics were on the scene within minutes and she was taken to Ipswich Hospital.
But a scan revealed she had suffered a global hypoxic brain injury and it was deemed she should begin end of life care.
Area coroner Jacqueline Devonish said Ms Lightbody's friend Nathan Denniston had spent the night with Beth and had tried to wake her in the morning but could not get a response, leaving the house in the morning to catch a train.
DC Cynthia Rhodes told the inquest it was investigated whether he should be prosecuted for leaving her but he was released without charge.
Mrs Devonish concluded Ms Lightbody had died of a brain injury brought on by an airway constriction due to a methadone overdose. She concluded her death was a result of misadventure.
Her daughter Freya said after the inquest: "She was one of those people who used to come into a room and would instantly light it up. Despite her addiction she was a really good mum - she was like a best friend."
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