A grief campaigner who lost her 18-year-old son has been found dead on the same Cornwall beach where he died. Charmaine Lyn George, 52, was discovered on Portreath beach by a member of the public on October 5.
Devon and Cornwall Police were called to the scene along with a rescue team from HM Coastguard, an RNLI lifeboat and a paramedic unit. She was already dead when they arrived.
Campaigner worked to help others after son's death
Charmaine, from Islington in north London, became a grief campaigner after losing her son Ewan in 2020. Coroners did not confirm the cause of Ewan's death, stating they did not have sufficient evidence to say he had taken his own life.
Following the tragedy, she opened a 'grief café' designed as a safe space for people to work through their feelings after a personal loss. She later worked alongside the Good Grief Trust to create Good Grief Pop Up Cafes in Cornwall and beyond.
Tributes and police response
In 2021, Charmaine was invited to The Sun's Who Cares Wins Awards, where she received the Caroline Flack Mental Health Hero Award for the work of her grief café.
In the days after her death, the Good Grief charity released a statement describing Charmaine as "passionate to help others" despite the anguish of losing her son. A spokesperson wrote: "Charmaine had tragically experienced the death of her young son Ewan and was passionate to help others find vital support."
The statement added: "In 2021, we were extremely proud to be invited to The Sun's Who Cares Wins Awards where Charmaine won The Caroline Flack Mental Health Hero Award, for starting our Café. What a proud evening for Charmaine and for us all."
The charity said she "helped to improve access to vital support services with the launch of our Good Grief Pop Up Cafes in Cornwall, and helped many others find a way forward with their life, after losing someone they loved." It sent love and support to her daughter Libby, and her family and friends, at "this incredibly difficult time."
A police spokesperson said Charmaine's next of kin had been informed and her death was not being treated as suspicious.
