James Goodison: Sheffield pensioner took his own life in fear of ‘burdening’ his family after cancer diagnosis

James “Jim” Goodison died on June 24, 2022 almost two weeks after he was found in his garden by his wife, Marcia, with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds, the hearing led by assistant coroner Katie Dickinson at the Medico-Legal Centre was told.

Paramedics attended the 82-year-old’s address on Gleadless Road, Sheffield, at around 6.20am on June 11 where he was found to have lost a “large volume” of blood.

Jim was transported to the Northern General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and blood transfusions to save his life. It was heard by vascular matron Ellen Smith, of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, that the “main concern” was Jim’s mental health.

While in hospital, Jim was increasingly “distressed”. Matron Smith said he was seen up to twice a day by the mental health team and it was determined that he would require further support in a mental health hospital.

On June 20, Jim was deemed medically fit for discharge and was transferred to the Dovedale Ward at the Michael Carlisle entre, a mental health inpatient ward for people aged 65 and over, where he was detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act.

Reading reports from previous assessments, Dr Poovanna Pemmaiah, the consultant psychiatrist at Dovedale at the time of Jim’s admission, said Jim had felt increasingly “hopeless” in the weeks leading up to his suicide attempt.

Jim had surgery to remove his cancer in May 2022, which left him with partial facial paralysis and slight disfigurement, and troubles with his speech and swallowing.

Dr Pemmaiah said: “On the 11th June, he had been experiencing depressive symptoms. He was struggling with looking into the future and what a diagnosis meant in terms of cancer.

“He was struggling with the thought that he was going to be a burden to his family and he was hopeless about his recovery.”

An interim care plan saw Jim placed under one-to-one nursing observation on the Dovedale Ward and an increase in his antidepressant medication dose which he was placed on while in Northern General Hospital, among other things.

On June 23, Dr Pemmaiah said Jim was visited by his family, but he continued to “voice hopelessness”. That evening during a routine check of Jim’s physical parameters, such as his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels, it was found that his levels had deteriorated and an ambulance was later called following close monitoring.

On Jim’s arrival at Northern General Hospital, Dr Caroline Kendrick, an A&E consultant at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals said a chest X-ray was ordered and it was noted that Jim had symptoms that suggested an infection of the lung and he was started on antibiotics.

As his condition continued to worsen, and the medical team were unable to fit a cannula, the team decided to treat the condition as though it was a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the lung, which is “a known risk factor” with surgery and cancer patients.

Sadly at 6.05am on June 24, Jim became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest and resuscitation began.

Dr Kendrick said: “Unfortunately Mr Goodison’s heart didn’t restart despite efforts and medications being given. Mr Goodison passed away at 6.44am in our department.”

After deliberation, the inquest jury read out their conclusion. It noted the name, date of death, location and cause of death, before stating: “James Goodison’s previous attempt to take his own life and the injuries he sustained led to his death.”

As such, the conclusion of the jury was suicide.

Jim’s family described the retired delivery driver as a “very generous and caring family man”, who was “very active” despite his age, and had a keen interest in football.

Addressing the family, Ms Dickinson said: “I know what it’s like to lose a dad, it’s hard. But to lose him in these circumstances must be very difficult and I’m very very sorry for your loss.”

Anyone struggling to cope is urged to contact Samaritans, whose volunteers are available to listen around the clock. Simply email [email protected] or call 116 123.