Diabetic mother, 60, drowned on family trip to historic Danish baths

Diabetic British mother, 60, lost consciousness and drowned on family holiday to historic Danish baths before being found lifeless in spa pool, inquest hears

• Margaret Barnaby, 60, drowned while on a holiday to Copenhagen with family
• A post mortem carried out confirmed the mother died by drowning 

A diabetic British mother drowned on a family trip to Denmark before she was found lifeless in a spa pool, an inquest has heard.

Margaret Barnaby, 60, travelled 1,000 miles from her home in Moylegrove, Pembrokeshire for a relaxing break at the historic Aire Ancient Baths in Copenhagen with her son Ben and his partner.

The three had tried a series of historic saltwater baths but tragedy struck when Mrs Barnaby, who was known as Mags, was found with her face submerged in water in a spa pool.

At an inquest into her passing, Coroner Paul Bennet gave a medical cause of death as drowning and diabetes mellitus, saying she had suffered a hyperglycemic episode, lost consciousness and then ‘became submerged’.

The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death at the inquest in County Hall, Haverfordwest.

Margaret Barnaby, 60, died on a family trip to a historic Danish baths – where she was spotted lifeless in a spa pool

The holiday turned to tragedy when Mrs Barnaby – known as Mags – was found with her face submerged in water in a spa pool

Coroner’s officer James Lang said: ‘There were numerous treatments available as well as the ancient baths which have a range of different temperatures as well as saltwater. 

‘The three of them had gone into the baths together and after a while, Ben and his girlfriend got out.’

The inquest heard that Ben was later told his mother’s body had been found submerged in the water.

Mr Lang added: ‘She was lying lifeless. Despite 45 minutes of CPR, she was declared dead at the scene.’

The inquest heard Mrs Barnaby was diabetic and wore her Continuous Glucose Monitoring device on her arm.

It was linked to her smartphone to monitor her blood sugar levels – but she left her phone in the changing rooms during the visit.

The inquest heard Mrs Barnaby was diabetic and wore her Continuous Glucose Monitoring device on her arm

A post mortem carried out by a Danish forensic pathologist confirmed that the cause of Mrs Barnaby’s death was drowning

A monitoring app showed Mrs Barnaby’s blood sugar levels declined rapidly when she reached the spa in May last year

The monitoring app showed her blood sugar levels declined rapidly when she reached the spa in May last year.

But it was not possible to have an accurate reading at the time of death as the device was submerged.

A post mortem carried out by a Danish forensic pathologist confirmed that the cause of Mrs Barnaby’s death was drowning.

After her death, son Ben paid tribute saying: ‘Your love and guidance meant the world to me.’

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