Blackpool coroner rules on death of woman, 67, following chainsaw injuries

A Fylde coast woman bought a chainsaw before self-inflicting fatal wounds.

An inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard that Carolyn Atkinson, 67, was known to have suffered from problems with anxiety for which she was prescribed anti-depressant medication.

On November 23, 2025, she called in a local store and bought a small hand-held chainsaw.

On the following morning, her husband David entered the garage at their home and found Carolyn with what was described as a significant wounds.

He urgently phoned for an ambulance and police and paramedics attended, with urgent efforts made to resuscitate her.

She was rushed by ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital and immediately taken to theatre for surgery. But the lack of blood flow to the brain had caused a devastating brain injury.

Carolyn, who was from Thornton Cleveleys, remained unconscious and she died in the hospital on the afternoon of November 24.

Blackpool and Fylde’s senior coroner Alan Wilson concluded that, at a time when she was experiencing acute levels of anxiety, Carolyn died of a self-inflicted transection of her carotid vessels with a chainsaw at her home.

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