A FORMER bar manager died after a deliberate overdose of a painkiller, causing his liver to fail, just days after he lost his job.

Simon David Pick had struggled with debts, along with drug and alcohol problems, in the last years of his life, an inquest heard.

On May 8, an ambulance was called to the 37-year-old’s home, and he told paramedics that “he wished to end his life”.

Mr Pick was taken to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, and doctors said that he was already jaundiced.

The inquest was told that Mr Pick, of Walpole Road, Stanmore, had previously taken a large quantity of the same painkiller in 2019, so “he already had some liver damage”, and in September 2020, he was suffering from heart burn and vomiting. In early 2021 it was found he had ulcer of the oesophagus, hiatus hernia and gastropathy.

During his stay in hospital, Mr Pick suffered breathing difficulties affected by his liver failure and a tube had to be inserted to help him breathe.

He was transferred to Kings College London which runs the largest transplantation programme in Europe, for a liver transplant, but he was not deemed suitable partly due to multi-organ failure, and he died on May 10.

A post mortem found he died of multi-organ failure, hyperacute liver failure, the painkiller overdose - delayed presentation, along with depression.

The inquest was told that Mr Pick was previously visited by bailiffs as he had rent arrears which he was not aware of, and “struggled to get over the death of his father and then his mother”.

Speaking at the inquest, his brother Nathan said: “Simon worked in hospitality all his life, he struggled with alcohol and drug dependency. He got fired from his job on the 6th from a hotel company and I think that was the catalyst for the decision that he made.”

Area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp concluded that Mr Pick’s death was as a result of suicide. She said during the inquest: “It seems as though Simon had some demons, but he also found it difficult to cope with some of the things that life threw at him, and he got himself into a situation which at times he felt overwhelming.”

For more information and guidance about mental health and suicide visit samaritans.org. 

If you are struggling can call the Samaritans for free, any time day or night, on 116 123.