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Home / Lifestyle

Bride-to-be accidentally dies trying to contact dead best friend

Herald online
30 Dec, 2016 12:00 AM4 mins to read

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Jazmine Howarth was determined to contact her best friend. Photo / Facebook
Jazmine Howarth was determined to contact her best friend. Photo / Facebook

Jazmine Howarth was determined to contact her best friend. Photo / Facebook

In case you missed it: This was one of Lifestyle's most popular stories of 2016

A bereaved bride-to-be has reportedly died after attempting to go "halfway-to-heaven" to meet with her recently deceased best friend.

According to The Sun, 25-year-old British woman, Jazmine Howarth, believed she could meet up with Dionne Corbett, who had committed suicide just weeks earlier, and then return to "the land of the living".

But Howarth was instead found dead in a community garden in Manchester. An inquest heard that Corbett's death had devastated her friend. The pair had known each other since they were toddlers and had discussed getting pregnant at the same time to experience raising children together.

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Howarth reportedly wrote a string of letters revealing how she wanted to see her best friend one last time, before coming back to carry on with her life.

Her death was deemed caused by "misadventure" according to coroner Lisa Hashmi.

"I have no doubt that the loss of her close and very dear friend in very tragic circumstances would have had a profound effect. She attended the chapel of rest to say her goodbyes. I believe she would have found that cathartic," she said.

"They had been of course very close, described as sisterly. Both had had conversations about what the other would do if one lost another, it may have underpinned her actions, but I could not say for sure what bearing, if any, it had."

Based on the contents of the letters, Hashmi believed Howarth had a "superstitious mind."

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"What I can't ignore are the letters, while it may be that some of them were drafted in the days before her death, described as a superstitious belief in Jazmine's mind, a number of letters were found that suggested that Jazmine wanted to speak to Dionne for one last time," the coroner said.

"That she believed she could meet Dionne and return to the land of living. What I believe was a failure to appreciate how quick one could die. She had a mistaken belief that she could just pass beyond and return. Quite clearly that was a mistake on her part. It's probably the naivety of youth that resulted in her sad, tragic and untimely death."

According to family and friends, Howarth had agreed to speak at her best friend's funeral and despite the tragedy, she seemed to be in a reasonable frame of mind.

Her aunt told The Sun that Howarth's family believed she had been "much more settled than she had been in a long time."

While Howarth was clearly devastated by her friend's death, her aunt said there was no indication she was planning to join her friend.

A letter to her mother revealed she wanted to contact her friend using a method "she thought she could control".

Howarth's fiance, Brendan Crawley, said the best friend's considered themselves sisters and that following Corbett's death, Howarth told him "... I promised I would go and get her."

"She said that she wanted to go and see her, go halfway to make sure she was all right. Two days before she died I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at Jazmine, she was writing on a piece of paper, I said, 'What are you doing?'. She said, 'Nothing, it's stupid'. I thought in my head that it must be something to do with Dionne."

Crawley said he had woken to find his partner scrawling words from a TV signal that was tuning in and out. Howarth told him she believed the words were a message from her friend.

Before her death, Crawley said the couple had argued and Howarth had run off, locking the door behind her.

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"I think she kind of expected me to save her."

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• Kidsline: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
• Whatsup: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
• Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7)
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• Samaritans 0800 726 666
• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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