A MOTHER who died after jumping into freezing water at a busy Southampton ferry terminal had been struggling with financial worries, an inquest heard.

Kwai Ying, of Forster Road, Portswood, Southampton, plunged from the Red Funnel Terminal One in Town Quay in front of shocked onlookers.

As previously reported in the Daily Echo, Red Funnel engineers working on a nearby boat spotted the 69-year-old in the water and made valiant attempts to rescue her.

PC Simon Spencer told a Southampton inquest how CCTV shows Ms Ying approaching the waterside and climbing over a dockside fence before launching herself into the water.

The inquest heard how the engineers dragged her to the quayside before trying to resuscitate her by administering CPR.

Ambulance crews arrived within minutes to continue with resuscitation before taking her to Southampton General Hospital.

She died shortly afterwards in intensive care.

PC Spencer told the inquest Ms Ying was of Chinese origin and they used documents in her pockets to track down one of her friends and notify her family.

He said: “We suspected there were family difficulties with finances and this was confirmed with her son.”

A post-mortem examination held by pathologist Dr Vipul Foria after her death on November 19 of last year revealed that her lungs did not contain enough liquid to suggest that she died by drowning.

He said that landing in very cold water can result in sudden death and added: “The cause of death was likely to be cardiac arrest due to contact with the water.”

Recording a suicide determination, Southampton coroner Keith Wiseman said that it was a “sad and sudden event” but confirmed that she intended to take her own life.