BBC Three star Jasmine Burkitt who appeared in dwarfism reality show Small Teen Bigger World may have overdosed in bid to get back into mental health unit, coroner says
- A coroner ruled she died by cardiac arrest due to misadventure
A former BBC Three teenage TV reality star with dwarfism and a history of mental health problems may have taken a medication overdose because her fiancé’s lung operation was ‘preying heavily on her mind,’ a coroner suggested today.
Jasmine ‘Jazz’ Burkitt, who was 3ft11, shot to fame on a BBC documentary ‘Small Teen Bigger World’ and was found dead in a tent outside a house at Bodelwyddan, last June.
The 28-year-old was a qualified veterinary nurse and had even been to 10 Downing Street by Samantha Cameron in 2011 in support of a disability rights occasion.
Coroner John Gittins at Ruthin, North Wales, recorded a conclusion of misadventure with her grandfather Norman Burkitt suggesting the overdose might have been an attempt to get herself admitted to hospital.
‘You could well be right. I don’t believe the intention was to end her life,’ Mr Gittins replied.
Coroner John Gittins ruled that Jasmine Burkitt’s cause of death was cardiac failure due to toxicity from antipsychotic medication
Georgina Jones said Jasmine and her son, Lewis Burke lived in a teepee tent in her garden, equipped with electricty after meeting at the Ablett mental health unit.
They’d bought a caravan and seemed excited about refurbishing it.
But Jasmine appeared ‘upset and overwhelmed’ because of Lewis’s pending operation.
He had tried to ring Jasmine from hospital but got no reply and his mum made the grim discovery in the tent on June 27. She tried to save her.
‘Jazz’ had been discharged from the Hergest psychiatric unit at Bangor on June 11 after her mental health had improved.
She could see a ‘bright future’and was visited by the home treatment team, the inquest heard.
She had denied any thoughts of deliberate self harm.
The inquest heard she and Lewis Burke lived in a teepee tent, equipped with electricity, in a garden.
Jasmine had shared her mental health experiences online in a series of posts
Mr Gittins said the cause of death was cardiac failure due to toxicity from antipsychotic medication used for treating depression.
He said : ‘On face value if someone has taken an overdose the immediate thought is they have done it with the intention of potentially ending their own life.
‘There are factors here though that take me away from whether or not that’s the appropriate conclusion, particularly by virtue of the fact while she had been seen by mental health services for her deteriorating mental health a month or so prior, all the indications were she was on the up.’
The coroner remarked : ‘I am left with this kind of enigma, did she do this on purpose intending to end her own life? I can’t reach the threshold of believing she wanted to bring her life to an end.
‘What we can’t know is what she was thinking, what she thought the consequences might be.
‘I suspect Lewis’s operation was preying heavily on her mind. Perhaps the delusional thoughts she exhibited historically, she thought may be quelled by additional medication.’
After the inquest Mr Burkitt said his granddaughter was ‘amazing.’
He said :’She achieved so much in life.’
He added that there had been difficulties in the couple obtaining council housing.
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