A man who took his own life after suffering from a debilitating condition has been described as a "lovely" man who "loved his job".

Christopher Heard, known as 'Chrissy' by his family, died at Ower Interchange at Junction 2 of the M27 on May 10 last year.

Winchester Coroner's Court heard at an inquest on Tuesday (May 14) that Christopher had been suffering from tinnitus, which caused ringing in his ears which greatly impacted his quality of life.

The 46-year-old delivery driver from Totton was described by his mum June during the inquest as a “lovely man” who “loved his job”.

He developed the condition after catching Covid which then affected his lifestyle, his mum told the inquest.

The court heard that in January 2023, Christopher saw his GP because he was suffering from the “debilitating ringing in his ears” and that as a result he reportedly said he felt "life wasn’t worth living”.

It was heard that at one point he was not able to sleep for two and half months which had a detrimental effect on his mental health.

During this time, he tried to take his own life despite getting support with his mental health from his GP, which area coroner, Jason Pegg, said “demonstrated the troubled place that Chrissy found himself in”.

It was heard, on the morning of May 10, that Christopher had transferred his savings to his mum and said to her: “I can’t do this anymore."

However she thought he was referring to the condition.

That morning he left his home and drove to the M27 where he took his own life.

Drivers stopped and took care of him while emergency services rushed to the scene.

Mr Pegg concluded: “Chrissy was from a family who very much loved him. Chrissy was someone who was a lovely man as described by his family.

“He was someone who had been working for 20 years as a driver and the impression I got was that he loved his job.”

Mr Pegg added his condolences to the family and returned a conclusion of suicide.

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