A coroner will investigate the care a 'selfless' grandmother and "all-around loving woman" received in the months before she died after falling from a motorway bridge.
Mum-of-five Joy Burgess, 56, from Tameside, died after falling from a bridge onto the M60 earlier this month.
An inquest into her death was formally opened at South Manchester Coroner's Court in Stockport this morning (Friday).
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Ms Burgess, a shop worker who was living in Ashton-under-Lyne, had overcome alcohol dependency and been alcohol-free for almost 20 years Police Coroner's Officer Alison Catlow told the short hearing.
However, she said she had a 'long history' of battling depression.
On Wednesday June 9, Ms Burgess was seen on the wrong side of a barrier on a bridge over the M60 and 'as people approached her' she fell, Ms Catlow said.
Police and paramedics attended around 10:30am however her condition 'quickly deteriorated' and she was declared dead at the scene.
There was a "suggestion'" that Ms Burgess had self-referred herself to hospital a week before her death, but that she was released the same day, the hearing was told.
And Assistant Coroner Anna Morris said that was "a matter that requires further investigation."
She added that she wanted to see evidence of any assessment that took place on that date and any contact with any mental health services in the weeks, months, and years prior to her death.
She also ordered witness statements be taken from anyone who saw her on the day she died.
The inquest was adjourned until early next year.
Last week, the family of Joy, who grew up in Hattersley, and who leaves behind her three sons, two daughters and six much-loved grandchildren, along with a host of close friends, paid a deeply moving tribute to her.
“My mum was an all-around loving woman" her son David Burgess said.
"She was just so giving.
“She would hide her feelings in front of everybody, a lot of the time, just to make other people happy and to make them smile.
“My mum would go out of her way for anybody, she’d do anything for anybody. She’d go without just to make sure somebody else had something. She was selfless at every point.”
She struggled with her mental health, he said, but used her first-hand knowledge of her own difficulties and spent time learning and training how to relieve the pain of people just like her David said.
She "did courses, got certificates, went on trips and spent a lot of time with people in difficult states of mind" and "over the last few years, she really tried her hardest to get in that position to help" he said.
A memorial fund organised by friend Alison Robinson has already raised nearly £2,000.
Alison said: "What I’m going to remember is that smile, she was a bundle of laughs. Joy was an absolutely genuine, sincere person. She had a heart of gold.
"She wanted to help everybody. Joy would have given you her last £5 if you’d have asked her to. I just want to remember her smile.”
If you would like to donate to the fundraiser in memory of Joy, visit this page.
