A DEVASTATED Hampshire family is pleading for answers over the care of a grandmother who died after falling from a motorway bridge after waiting for help from mental health workers.

Marion Munns, 75, a grandmother of three, was found on the carriageway of the M27 near Junction 3 on November 12 last year.

She was struck by two cars having fallen into the path of rush hour traffic from an overhead bridge, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hours before her death Marion’s family had called mental health crisis care workers provided by Southern Health after she became distressed at home and had refused help from her worried husband, John, and two daughters, Angela and Kim.

Mother-of-two Marion climbed out of an upstairs window of her Plover Close home as her family waited for help.

She was found dead by police on the motorway after the family called emergency services and reported her missing.

The inquest into Marion’s death, which is expected to last for three days, will begin at 10am at Winchester Coroner’s Court today.

Now, Marion’s daughter Angela Mote said her family just want answers.

“The woman my family saw that night simply wasn’t my mum,” she admitted.

“My mum was a gentle, giving woman who would do anything for anyone. That night she was a woman in the depths of crisis.

“Nothing will bring my mum back, but my dad, sister and I now just want answers about what happened that night.

"I could not bear the idea of anyone else losing someone so dear to them in this same horrific way.”

Rebecca Brown, a medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing the family, said: “The last 11 months have been an agonising wait for answers for Marion’s family.

“Understandably they have many questions about what happened that night, not least why Marion’s behaviour wasn’t taken more seriously.

“It is very important for the family to know whether lessons can be learned from Marion’s death so that other families of people in the midst of a mental health crisis do not suffer the devastating loss that they have.”

Marion worked as a nurse at Southampton General Hospital and had been married to John for more than 50 years to John who worked at Vosper Thornycroft.

On retirement she worked as a volunteer at a local cancer hospice delivering tea and newspapers to patients. She also helped out with a local brownie group and was a keen member of the Cycle Touring Club.

So many people attended her funeral at Southampton Crematorium that the doors had to be kept open.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the westbound carriageway of the M27 was closed for a number of hours near Nursling following the fatal incident, which happened at about 6pm on November 12 last year.

A spokeswoman for the underfire trust Southern Health said: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment before the inquest has started.”