A beloved primary school head teacher took her own life after becoming convinced she was developing dementia and had become a burden on those around her, an inquest has heard — despite never having received a formal diagnosis.
Alison Higgins, 61, who had served as co-head teacher at Barham Primary School near Canterbury for a decade, was found unresponsive at her home in Hythe by her husband Christopher shortly after 7am on 8 December last year. Paramedics worked for 40 minutes before she was pronounced dead. A Maidstone inquest this week concluded she had taken her own life.
Detective Sergeant Brian Burgess told the hearing that Mrs Higgins had become increasingly fearful about her cognitive health in the period leading up to her death. “Alison believed she was suffering from dementia,” he said. “Day-to-day tasks in her family and professional life had likely become increasingly harder for her. She felt as though she had become a burden on everyone around her.”
The inquest heard she had suffered a mini-stroke the previous year and had long struggled with insomnia, often lying awake for hours working on her laptop through the night. She had a longstanding diagnosis of depression and had been prescribed sertraline, which toxicology tests showed was at a therapeutic level at the time of her death. Just four days before she died, she had visited her GP complaining of anxiety and grogginess, hoping to review medication linked to other health conditions. No dementia diagnosis had been made.
Coroner Katrina Hepburn said notes found at the property, combined with Mrs Higgins’s recent low mood, pointed clearly to suicide as the appropriate conclusion. “There is nothing to suggest that she was anticipating being found and rescued,” the coroner said.
In a statement read to the court, her husband of 31 years described a woman of extraordinary warmth and quiet devotion. “She had a gift for noticing people, particularly those who might be struggling, and helping them to feel seen, valued and included,” he said. He recalled her early teaching career in Portugal and Italy, her fierce pride in their sons George and Jamie, and the simple pleasures she drew from walks by the sea, swimming, travel and good food. “Our shared memories of Italy are especially important to her — years that brought her great happiness, which she carried with her throughout her life,” he wrote.
Tributes from the school and local community spoke of a woman who had shaped the lives of hundreds of children. Barham Primary said staff and families had lost someone with a “kind, thoughtful and supportive heart,” while the parish council described her as having made “a lasting and positive contribution to the school and the wider village community.” The Reverend Stefan Thomas of St John the Baptist Church said the loss was deepened by the knowledge of what an exceptional teacher she had been.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, the Samaritans can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org
