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| Olive Cooke inquest: Poppy seller suffered depression | Olive Cooke inquest: Poppy seller suffered depression |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A 92-year-old poppy seller killed herself after suffering problems with depression and insomnia. | A 92-year-old poppy seller killed herself after suffering problems with depression and insomnia. |
| Olive Cooke, from Bristol, was one of the UK's longest-serving poppy sellers and had collected money in Bristol for the Royal British Legion for 76 years. | Olive Cooke, from Bristol, was one of the UK's longest-serving poppy sellers and had collected money in Bristol for the Royal British Legion for 76 years. |
| A suicide note said she had managed to get "little sleep" and could "take it no more". Her body was found at the bottom of the Avon Gorge in May. | A suicide note said she had managed to get "little sleep" and could "take it no more". Her body was found at the bottom of the Avon Gorge in May. |
| Avon deputy coroner Terence Moore recorded a verdict of suicide. | Avon deputy coroner Terence Moore recorded a verdict of suicide. |
| The inquest, at Flax Bourton Coroner's Court, heard that Mrs Cooke had previously attempted suicide in 2009. | |
| Her insomnia meant that in the months before her death she was getting only two hours of sleep a night. | |
| Mrs Cooke supported numerous charities and at one point received 267 charity letters in one month, leading to suggestions that being hounded for money pushed her to take her own life. | |
| But her family insisted that - while the letters and phone calls were intrusive - the charities were not to blame for Mrs Cooke's death. | |
| Nothing was said of the charities during the inquest. | |
| It is believed the former post lady sold some 30,000 poppies during her time helping the Royal British Legion. | |
| She started selling poppies at the age of 16 as her father was an active Royal British Legion member having served in World War One. | |
| Mrs Cooke said, before she died, that selling poppies took on new meaning for her when her first husband was killed in action in World War Two. |