Woman Drowns Herself In River After Mistakenly Self-Diagnosing Herself With Stomach Cancer

A mother in Britain committed suicide by drowning herself in a river close to her home after mistakenly self- diagnosing herself with stomach cancer.

An inquest heard that in 2013, Seemberjeet Kaur believed her organs were failing for weeks after becoming “consumed” by the ill health of her four-year-old daughter. The 35-year-old mom allegedly gave up her job at a nursery after she began to lose weight rapidly.

Kaur was prescribed a muscle relaxant by her doctor but, after researching medical websites online, came to the false conclusion that she had stomach cancer.

The 35-year-old from Bradford, West Yorkshire, gave up her job at a nursery to care for the child in the months before her death. In October, after making a number of phone calls to her husband complaining that she wasn’t feeling well, Kaur then took a taxi to the nearby River Aire.

CCTV footage shows her walking down a canal towpath toward the water, and then she vanished. Her body was discovered six weeks later.

Her husband, Balijeet Sing Kang, spoke to reporters about the fact that his marriage to Kaur was arranged: “It was an arranged marriage but one we were both happy with as we spent time talking and getting to know each other. She was always close to her family and spoke to them once or twice a week. She got on with everyone easily,” he said.

According to the widower, the couple’s daughter had a severe case of eczema and also suffered from pneumonia. Mrs Kaur who “did not leave her side,” was clearly affected by this: “She got a bit protective. It snowed one day and she did not want me to take her outside. She was consumed with her health. She talked to everyone about it all the time,” said Kang.

According to Kang, his wife was affected by not working: “This affected her. She didn’t go out much but spent time at the house. She seemed happy but disappointed not to work. She liked the house to be clean and tidy and she was a bit OCD about this. She didn’t have any hobbies or go out much,” he said.

Kang spoke about the sudden change he noticed in his wife’s behaviour, back in the summer of 2013: “We went on a day out to York. I began to notice a difference in her behaviour. After a week and a half she had lost weight. She researched on the internet to find out what the matter was and thought she had found or identified her problem. She then went to the doctors and they gave her something for it but it didn’t help. She went back and the prescribed something else – a muscle relaxant.”

Recording a verdict of suicide, Coroner Roger Whittaker said: “She felt physically unwell and after numerous trips to A&E nothing had been discovered. She started to think that she was unwell and other family members were unwell. She was under the impression that a number of her organs were failing and that she suffered from stomach cancer.”

The coroner noted: “I record a verdict that she took her own life whilst the balance of her mind was disturbed.”