A father today spoke of his devastation after his partner hanged herself after she had wrongly believed she was responsible for the cot death of their newborn son.
Belinda Danino, 36, a consultation manager at Transport for London, took her own life at the couple’s home in Raynes Park 10 weeks after finding their 47-day old baby, Mark, dead.
She had earlier convinced herself that she “murdered” the child after reading about Wandsworth mother Felicia Boots, who smothered her two young children while suffering from post-natal depression.
Ms Danino’s partner Graham White said she had been “gregarious, self-assured and confident” but Mark’s death last April left her a “shell” of her former self.
“It was such a shock to everyone to see the huge change in her. Essentially, she died the day Mark died, the Belinda we knew and loved — her normal personality — disappeared that day and never returned.
“But I will remember her for her sensitivity and care towards other people and animals. She was so loving and caring,” he told the Evening Standard.
“The last thing she wanted to be was a burden and I think she felt she had become a burden to her family, her friends and me.”
Ms Danino, who was born in Fulham, was one of the youngest women bus drivers in London before she climbed the ranks at TfL.
A verdict of suicide while suffering a pathological bereavement reaction was returned at an inquest at Westminster coroner’s court this week.
The court heard that Ms Danino, who had nearly finished a university degree, tried to jump onto the tracks at Wimbledon station three weeks before her death last July. Mr White had also caught her climbing out of an upstairs bedroom window.
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But she underwent mental health treatment and appeared to have finally dismissed the notion she was responsible for what happened to Mark. There were no warning signs in the immediate run-up to her death. Paying tribute to their son, Mr White said: “He was such a contented baby, so placid and calm.
He wasn’t ill, showed no signs of illness, but that’s the tragic thing about cot death — there is no protection, prevention or treatment.
“He was our first child so it was incredible to see how much he developed in the six weeks. He would follow you with his eyes and had started grasping for things on his play mat.”
Tomorrow a tree will be planted in memory of Ms Danino and her son in Battersea Park, which was the site of the couple’s first date and where Ms Danino had a tree planted for Mr White’s 40th birthday.
A similar tree will be planted directly opposite in memory of the pair.
The family will take it in turns to shovel in earth to plant the tree before scattering Ms Danino’s ashes near the lake.
Mr White, 43, who works for TfL as a project manager on the Victoria line, said: “As a present, it was a really nice touch because I could see it grow as our relationship blossomed.
“It was symbolic of how our relationship and family was developing, so we decided to have a collection for a tree for her and Mark.”
