Love Island Star Caroline Flack's Cause Of Death Revealed
Four days after former Love Island host Caroline Flack was found dead in her East London apartment, the star's cause of death has been confirmed. U.K. coroners have labeled Flack's death a suicide by hanging (via Page Six).
At an inquest into Flack's death on Feb. 19, 2020, the coroner's court was told that when police officers arrived on scene, the former host was found "lying on her back inside." Although law enforcement officers and paramedics attempted to revive her, Flack was pronounced dead on the scene just after 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2020.
E! News reports that the day before Flack's death, an ambulance was called to the 40-year-old's home. "We were called shortly after 22:30 on February 14 to a residential property," a London Ambulance Service spokesperson told the outlet. "Crews attended and, following a clinical assessment, the person was not taken to hospital."
The same day, Flack had reportedly learned that she was being charged with domestic violence for a December 2019 incident involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. Flack allegedly assaulted Burton with a lamp, which resulted in a "minor injury on his head" (via the Daily Mail). Burton had reportedly asked prosecutors to drop the case.
In the days following Flack's untimely death, her friends and family have taken to social media to post tributes to the host and shed some insight on her final days.
Caroline Flack wrote a haunting message before her death
In the weeks leading up to her death, Flack apparently felt like she didn't have a voice, taking to Instagram in December 2019 to wish fans a happy Christmas and thank them for their support even though she had "been advised not to go on social media." "This kind of scrutiny and speculation is a lot to take on for one person to take on their own...," she wrote. " I'm a human being at the end of the day and I'm not going to be silenced when I have a story to tell and a life to keep going with..."
Her family released a heartbreaking message, via the Eastern Daily Press, that the host had apparently written before her death. The message addresses her December 2019 arrest for the alleged assault of boyfriend Lewis Burton. "I've been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time. But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident," she said. After the incident, Flack stepped down as the host of Love Island. "Within 24 hours my whole world and future was swept from under my feet and all the walls that I had taken so long to build around me, collapsed." She went on to say, "the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment."
In light of the tragic circumstances, her mother is trying to spread Flack's truth.
Caroline Flack's mom is spreading her daughter's message
Caroline Flack's mother, Christine Flack, told the Eastern Daily Press that her daughter had sent her the message she penned for Instagram in late January 2020 "but was told not to post it by advisers but she so wanted to have her little voice heard." And that's exactly why Flack's mother wanted to share her daughter's private words following her death. "So many untruths were out there but this is how she felt and my family and I would like people to read her own words."
Christine Flack also noted that the point of her daughter's message wasn't to cast blame but rather to express herself during a time when she felt muzzled. "It was describing how she was feeling and what she had gone through — no more than that. It was not blaming anyone or pointing any fingers."
"As Carrie would say: 'In a nasty world just be kind,'" Flack's mother added. The host's mother isn't the only one speaking up on Caroline's behalf.
Caroline Flack's boyfriend is promising to be her 'voice'
One day after Caroline Flack's death, her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, took to Instagram to post a tribute to his girlfriend — and to make a heartbreaking promise. "My heart is broken we had something so special," Burton wrote. "I am so lost for words I am in so much pain I miss you so much I know you felt safe with me you always said I don't think about anything else when I am with you and I was not allowed to be there this time I kept asking and asking."
He went on to say that he would dedicate himself to being his late girlfriend's "voice," writing, "I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers nothing will bring you back but I will try make you proud everyday."
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).