A loving husband and dad took his own life a month after his benefits were stopped by the Department of Work and Pensions.
Lee Tarpey died at the age of 40 after taking an overdose of medication he had been prescribed for a number of health problems.
He told his wife he felt he was a drain on her and could not provide for his family.
Mr Tarpey, from St Helens, had been a builder for many years but had a heart attack in 2015 which saw him fitted with three stents. He also suffered with angina and diabetes.
His wife Kerrie Tarpey explained how he tried to go back to work several times but was physically unable to and so applied for support from the government.
Having initially been turned down, he won an appeal in 2016 and was awarded the lower rate of Personal Independence Payments.
But in the spring of 2017, Mrs Tarpey said her husband was called for an assessment in which he was told that he was not unwell enough to qualify for benefits payments and that they would be stopped.
His money was stopped in July of that year and just a month later Mr Tarpey took his own life.
Kerrie said: "They said he was in good condition and he didn't even score a single point, I don't know how - but he was a proud man so wouldn't want to seem like he needed help.
"In June he got the letter saying his money would be stopped, he was only getting £300 a month but it made him feel like he wasn't a drain on us - he just ripped up the letter, he didn't want me to see it."
She added: "After his money was stopped in July he really went downhill.
"On August 17 he was in bed and I was downstairs with the kids, I went up to see him to say I was going to the chippy and I could tell something had happened."
Lee had taken an overdose of his medication and sadly died at home despite paramedics trying to save his life for over an hour.
Kerrie said: "He had left me a note which said he was sorry for not being the man to provide for us, it said he didn't deserve to live because he was a drain on us."
Kerrie, who is a hairdresser, met Lee in 1992, and the couple had three children together who are now 15, 20 and 25.
She said there is not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her husband and feels constant anger for what happened to him.
She said: "I think about him every day, I'm always thinking about him.
"I've got so much anger inside me, my husband should still be here, he was my arms and I was his legs - we were all each other knew - had been together since 1992.
"I still can't believe what's happened."
She believes the system currently used by the DWP for assessing people on benefits and awarding them points based on a limited interaction is flawed.
She added: "I just think it's disgusting. These assessments that they do are not right, proud people like Lee may not admit how unwell they are, but he couldn't work - he wanted to and he tried to go back, but he physically couldn't.
"He only wanted the £300 a month he had been receiving so that he could get by and not feel like he was a drain on us, he couldn't physically work."
Kerrie said she has not previously spoken out about her husband's death because it was too raw and she was worried about the impact on her children.
She added: "The children agree with me now that we don't want this to happen to another family."
A DWP spokesperson said: “Our sincere condolences are with Mr Tarpey’s family.
“Our decisions are made using information that’s available to us at the time from a person’s GP or medical specialist to help ensure people receive all the financial support they are entitled to.”
