My sister had a toothache – hours later I found her dead next to me… I called out for my brother but he had died too
A WOMAN has recalled the tragic moment she woke to find her sister dead beside her before calling for her brother only to discover he had died too.
Jade Couperthwaite, 32, had spent the evening with siblings Carla, 26, and Stephen, 33, at her Bolton home in September last year before the horror unfolded.
The trio had a “normal night” – with the girls sharing a bottle of wine and painting nails while Stephen relaxed in one of the bedrooms.
But Jade’s world quickly came crashing down following “impossibly cruel” happenings.
Carla had complained early on in the evening that she was suffering with toothache ahead of planned dentistry work in the coming weeks.
Half-brother Stephen had recently been prescribed a strong painkiller after getting veneers, so offered his youngest sister some of the medication.
None of the group thought anything of it and, shortly after, Jade dozed off on the sofa around 7.30pm.
The next time she opened her eyes just hours later, she discovered her sister and “best friend” unresponsive next to her.
She screamed out to Stephen for help but got no response, so starting performing CPR on Carla and rang for an ambulance.
When emergency services arrived, Jade ran in to get Stephen but soon realised he was also not breathing.
Carla and Stephen were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Heartbroken Jade has since warned others not to take prescribed medication meant for someone else.
She told the Mirror: “I still cannot accept they both died together on the same day.
“Carla and me were best friends as well as sisters. She was beautiful, and she was such a lovely, kind-hearted, funny girl.
“I was her big sister and I looked after her ever since she was a newborn.
“It breaks my heart I could not protect her the night she died. My life feels so empty without her.”
She added: “Carla would still be alive today if she hadn’t taken [the painkiller] for her toothache.
“I hope her death can serve as a warning to others – please don’t take medication if it’s not prescribed for you.
“Nothing will bring her back, but perhaps our tragedy can save another life.”
A coroner concluded that both Carla and Stephen had taken a concoction of drugs which led to their deaths.
But he made it clear there was no intention for either of them to take their lives.
Carla had previously suffered with severe anxiety and was on medication following the death of her uncle.
Jade said she was finally coming out of it after three years of struggles and was positive about life.
During the inquest, it was also revealed that Stephen also struggled with his mental health and would sometimes lean on drugs as a “coping mechanism”.
How to get help with addiction
If you have any kind of addiction that you are battling, there is help out there.
The NHS recommends anyone who is suffering to get in contact with workers at Frank.
Frank can find services local to you that can support you – whether that be with drugs, alcohol or gambling addictions.
As well as searching through their website for help nearby, you can also call their hotline on 0300 1236600.
The 33-year-old would go on binges of up to five or six days on alcohol and cocaine, which cost him around £2,000, his partner told the hearing.
Steven Downey, a recovery coordinator at the drug and alcohol service Achieve, told how Stephen was enrolled in help programs between 2019 and 2023.
Pathologist Dr Ravindra Sawant said multiple drugs were in both Stephen’s and Carla’s systems when they died.