A support worker was found hanged three months after suffering a mini-stroke, an inquest heard.
Father-of-three Stephen Cooney was described as a ‘fit and healthy’ man before suffering a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) in May this year.
Blackburn Coroners Court heard how the incident had a ‘substantial and significant impact both physically and mentally’ and he became ‘anxious and paranoid’ about suffering further heart attacks and strokes.
Mr Cooney, 64, who lived on Dill Hall Lane in Accrington with his partner Lisa Redfearn, was found hanged at his other house on Broadfield Street in Oswaldtwistle on August 24.
The inquest heard how Mr Cooney said he was going to the barbers, but a note was later found on the front door of the house which read ‘please do not come in’.
Another note was later found at Lisa Redfearn’s home.
Ms Redfearn told the inquest that Mr Cooney ‘changed completely’ after suffering the TIA and ‘couldn’t cope with the medication as it made his head fuzzy’.
She said: “From May until June we were backwards and forwards at the doctor’s almost every week.
“I think he thought he did have something seriously wrong.
“He was worried about having a big stroke.”
Rita Rotherham, Mr Cooney’s sister, said he was a ‘very fit man’ but the TIA ‘completely undermined his confidence’.
The inquest heard how Mr Cooney previously referred himself to the mental health services and a daily home treatment plan was put in place shortly before his death.
The inquest heard how the day before his death he had felt ‘less anxious’ and ‘more positive’ and was the ‘best and brightest he’d been for a while’.
Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of suicide and told the family that ‘absolutely everything had been done’ to help him.
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Cooney’s friend Janine Simone said: “Stephen touched many people’s lives and had a huge impact on mine.
“He will be sadly missed by many and remembered for his good humour and caring nature towards others.
“He always taught us to be healthy and treat our bodies as a temple and this will be something that I will carry with me, and the love he had for me, into the rest of my life.”
