A three-year-old boy spent a week over the Christmas period sitting next to the body of his dead mother because he thought she was asleep.
It is believed that 28-year-old Emilie Decroix, who lived in Loison-sous-Lens in northern France, died before Christmas but nobody visited the house she shared with her son until New Year's Eve.
The boy's grandfather phoned around Christmas time but the child told him: "Mummy's asleep."
The cause of death was quickly established — Ms Decroix had died suddenly from a ruptured brain aneurysm, the Daily Mail reports.
Her work colleagues assumed the single mother was sick and unable to call them. Neighbours assumed she was on holiday.
"Emilie lived alone with her little boy who clearly believed she was sleeping and might wake up," a police source was quoted as saying.
"Before the ruptured aneurysm she would have had all the appearances of a young, fit woman — the child could clearly not envisage that she might be dead."
Ms Decroix had not contacted anyone since before Christmas, suggesting that she might have died before then.
The child's grandfather called around to the house on New Year's Eve where he discovered her body with her son sitting quietly next to her
It is not known if the child managed to find food for himself. He was physically unharmed but is undergoing counseling while living in the care of his grandparents.
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