Doubletragedy ofbridge-fallmotherand son

Simon Bristow

A MOTHER and her son both fell to their deaths from the Humber Bridge in apparent suicides only two months apart.

Yvonne Brown, 59, plunged nearly 100 feet into the same field on Hessle foreshore where her son Benjamin, 24, died after also falling from the bridge.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The western footpath, the location where Mr Brown fell from, was closed for maintenance when his mother fell from the opposite side of the bridge.

A joint inquest into both deaths is due to be held in Hull later this month.

Lifeboat crews from Humber Rescue, an independent charity whose boathouse is near the field, were among the first on the scene at both incidents.

Humber Rescue chairman Dave Roberts said: “We were paged by the coastguard to an incident on the bridge and when we got there they said ‘don’t bother launching the boat because it’s land-based’.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: “When you see them it’s quite traumatic really. I’ve been doing it for 21 years and you get hardened to it, but it’s not something you are trained for.”

Humber Rescue was also alerted to the incident with Mrs Brown just over two months later. Mr Roberts said it was difficult to imagine how the family were coping with the double tragedy.

“I don’t know how you would get over that,” he said. “Losing one is bad enough.”

Mrs Brown’s husband Michael declined to comment at his home in Hull yesterday, but a newspaper death notice paid tribute to her last month. It said: “Reunited with her loving son Ben, dearly loved and loving wife of Mike and much loved by Laura.”

Related topics: