A BRAVE six-year-old girl ran to a neighbour's home for help after finding her mother unconscious in bed.

Little Naomi Darlington 's mum Karen later died in hospital on May 13 after suffering a brain haemorrhage caused as a result of a minor bump to her head and cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol misuse over a number of years.

Coroner Mr Barrie Williams, at an inquest held on Thursday (June 19) said a post mortem was unable to reveal when the minor head injury occurred.

Mrs Darlington had a history of falling due to her alcohol dependency, but the skull had been weakened and the liver disease had combined to cause severe clotting on the brain.

The inquest heard how neighbour Mr David Wolfenden awoke early on morning of May 13 to find Naomi knocking on his door in a distressed state after finding her mother collapsed on her bed. A pulse was present but Mrs Darlington, a divorcee, was unconscious.

Rushed to Bury General Hospital, the 37-year-old former Manchester City Council training officer died at 3pm.

Her mum Mrs Joan Darlington, said Karen, of Limefield Brow, Walmersley, had fallen down her stairs only a month prior to her death but declined hospital treatment despite bruising to her back and head. She was also being treated for an ear infection and was complaining of pains in her head before and after the tumble in April.

Mrs Darlington's drink problem began in earnest after the birth of Naomi who spent the first 18 months of her life in hospital. Throughout the 1990s she began to overcome her dependency on alcohol although the damage to her liver had already been done.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death from natural causes due to the liver cirrhosis being the major factor in Mrs Darlington's death.

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