Leeds mother falls from tower block, baby survives

A pregnant woman fell to her death from a ninth-floor tower block window in Leeds in 2024, but her unborn baby was delivered alive and survived, an inquest has concluded. Emma Atkinson, 38, died on October 22, 2024, after falling from her father's flat in Shakespeare Towers in the Burmantofts area.

The inquest at Wakefield Coroners Court heard that Atkinson, a mother of five, had visited her father, David Atkinson, that morning. He stated that she sat by a window, asked for a cigarette, and opened the window fully after removing its safety catches. After he asked her to close it due to the cold, he heard her say "I'm off" before seeing her feet disappear through the opening.

Paramedics performed CPR at the scene and rushed her to Leeds General Infirmary, but she had sustained catastrophic and unsurvivable injuries. Medical staff delivered her baby girl via emergency Caesarean section approximately 30 minutes after the fall. The infant, named Posie, was born five weeks early and spent weeks in intensive care after suffering a punctured lung and a fractured tibia. Doctors later described her recovery as miraculous.

Assistant Coroner Naomi McLoughlin concluded that Atkinson had...