A polish immigrant who battled mental illness killed herself by standing in front of a train.

Maria Alicja Dacewiz, 52, died instantly when she was struck by a high-speed train at Alderley Edge railway station on New Year’s Day 2012.

Witnesses described her pacing up and down the platform mumbling incoherently before walking on to the tracks.

Mum of one, Maria, of Cumber Lane, Wilmslow, had overcome mental illness but relapsed after her beloved dog Sunia died.

A jury inquest at Macclesfield Town Hall heard her described as a ‘lost soul’ who moved to England in 2006 in search of a better life.

Maria worked up to 85 hours per week cleaning to support herself and son Tomasz Bierezny.

At the David Lewis Centre in Alderley Edge manager Carol Jones described her as a ‘brilliant worker’.

But the inquest heard that Maria moved from place to place never establishing links with the community. She also never mastered English and relied on her son or an interpreter to speak for her.

Then in 2007 she began suffering mental health issues.

A psychiatric report said Maria was convinced the world was imaginary and that work colleagues were trying to poison her.

After a year on medication she recovered and returned to work.

The inquest heard that she was ‘obsessed’ with her dog Sunia, who she had transported from Poland. In a statement her son, Tomasz, described her saying: ‘I have my son, my dog and a home. I am happy’.

But in November 2011 Sunia became seriously ill and died, prompting a ‘devastated’ Maria to relapse.

On December 23 she saw Dr Mark Brennan at Wilmslow Medical Centre complaining of suicidal thoughts.

She was given an appointment at the psychiatric unit at Macclesfield Hospital but did not attend.

On New Year’s Eve John Jeff, whose house she cleaned once a week, described her as ‘miserable’ and non responsive.

The following day she told Tomasz she was going for a walk and left the house.

She was seen at Alderley Edge Railway Station on the Crewe-bound platform by Aidan Livingstone who was on the opposite platform at 4.30pm.

He described her as pacing up and down mumbling and watched her walk onto the tracks into the darkness.

The inquest heard from train driver Andrew Heaken who described the horror of seeing Maria appear 100 yards ahead of him stood in the middle of the tracks, her back to him, legs and arms outstretched, her head slightly turned towards him.

Despite sounding the horn and applying the emergency brake the train hit Maria.

Mr Heaken said: “It was the worst moment of my 30 years on the railways.”

An autopsy found Maria had died from multiple injuries.

Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded a verdict that Maria took her own life while the balance of her mind was disturbed.