Olivia Martinez, who was 29 when she died, lost both her grandfather and mother to the neurodegenerative disorder, for which there is currently no cure.

She had started to undergo tests to see whether she would develop it, posting online that she was doing so because she wanted to know what the implications were if she were to have children of her own.

However, she did not complete the process before her death, with her family saying she had been unsure if she was ready to face the prospect.

Olivia Martinez (Image: Supplied by family)

An inquest into her death, held this week, was told she had struggled with mental ill health since the age of 16.

That was the year she learned her family carried the gene for the inherited condition. Her grandfather, Tim, was suffering from it at the time and later died.

The fatal condition, symptoms of which typically start in adults over the age of 30, causes nerve cells in the brain to decay.

Miss Martinez had seen the effects of the disease close up on her mother, Traz, who had died in April 2024, in her mid 50s.

Norfolk Coroner's Court heard that Miss Martinez's mental health had worsened in the weeks leading up to Mother's Day last year, the first since her mother's death.

Her body was discovered at her home in Waddington Street, Norwich, on May 5.

Olivia Martinez with her father (Image: Supplied by family)

A toxicology report revealed she had taken drugs that caused “significant sedative effects” and had also consumed alcohol. Her cause of death was given as self strangulation.

Her father, Vincent Martinez, said his daughter - who worked as a mental health worker - had struggled with her own mental health for years, a result of both fears over having the condition and guilt over family members succumbing to it.

“The loss of her mother a year earlier hit her incredibly hard," he said.

"Her grief was deep and ongoing, and she reached out repeatedly for help. She told me, and she told services how desperate she felt. I could see how much she was fighting to stay safe, and how urgently she needed support."

Vincent Martinez (Image: Newsquest)

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