THERE is something shockingly sad about a woman dying alone and her body not being found for weeks. It reflects on our society today where people, for example, may have many friends online but do not have regular daily contact in the real world.

I have no idea if that was the case with poor Derinne Atkins, whose body was found in a flat in Southbourne. Life moves on fast as circumstances change and someone can die alone through no fault of anyone else. Today, many of us do not even know our neighbours.

But what makes Derinne’s death so poignant to those who knew her – and she used to worked at the Echo – is that she was such a vibrant woman with a twinkle in her eye.

Her former colleagues remember her as kind, bright, gentle and witty and it seems so wrong that her life has ended tragically young.

It raises the question that all of us should be asking about whether there are others in our community who may be adrift. And what we should be doing.