A British diabetic mother died on a family trip to a historic Danish baths – where she was spotted lifeless in a spa pool, an inquest has heard.
Margaret Barnaby, 60, travelled 1,000 miles for a relaxing break to Copenhagen with her son Ben and his partner.
But the holiday turned to tragedy when Mrs Barnaby – known as Mags – was found with her face submerged in water in a spa pool.
An inquest heard the three visited the Aire Ancient Baths together, trying a series of historic saltwater baths.
Coroners officer James Lang said: ‘There were numerous treatments available as well as the ancient baths which have a range of different temperatures as well as saltwater.
Margaret Barnaby, 60, died on a family trip to a historic Danish baths – where she was spotted lifeless in a spa pool
The holiday turned to tragedy when Mrs Barnaby – known as Mags – was found with her face submerged in water in a spa poo
‘The three of them had gone into the baths together and after a while, Ben and his girlfriend got out.’
The inquest heard that Ben was later told his mother’s body had been found submerged in the water.
Mr Lang added: ‘She was lying lifeless. Despite 45 minutes of CPR, she was declared dead at the scene.’
The inquest heard Mrs Barnaby was diabetic and wore her Continuous Glucose Monitoring device on her arm.
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It was linked to her smartphone to monitor her blood sugar levels – but she left her phone in the changing rooms during the visit.
The inquest heard Mrs Barnaby was diabetic and wore her Continuous Glucose Monitoring device on her arm
A post mortem carried out by a Danish forensic pathologist confirmed that the cause of Mrs Barnaby’s death was drowning
The monitoring app showed her blood sugar levels declined rapidly when she reached the spa in May last year.
But it was not possible to have an accurate reading at the time of death as the device was submerged.
A post mortem carried out by a Danish forensic pathologist confirmed that the cause of Mrs Barnaby’s death was drowning.
Coroner Paul Bennet gave a medical cause of death as drowning and diabetes mellitus for Mrs Barnaby, of Moylegrove, Pembrokeshire.
He said: ‘This suggests that she suffered a hyperglycemic episode, lost consciousness and became submerged.’
The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death at the inquest in County Hall, Haverfordwest.
After her death, son Ben paid tribute saying: ‘Your love and guidance meant the world to me.’
