Woman's death raises awareness of drug addiction (From Salisbury Journal)

Woman's death raises awareness of drug addiction

11:08am Thursday 19th July 2012 in News By Corey Ross

THE family of a woman who was found dead in her west London home, want people to continue her work to help fight addiction by donating to a Salisbury-based charity.

Police discovered the body of 48-year-old Eva Rausing, who was married to Tetra-Pak carton firm heir Hans Kristian Rausing, in Cadogan Place, Belgravia on July 9.

Mrs Rausing’s parents, Tom and Nancy Kemeny, have said they hope her struggle with addiction will raise awareness, and have asked for any donations in her name to be made to Action on Addiction, a Salisbury-based charity to which she was a donor and a former trustee.

Police are treating Mrs Rausing’s death as unexplained, and a post mortem examination failed to establish a formal cause of death, but since her death her battle with drug addiction has made the national news.

In a statement, Mr Kemeny said his daughter began experimenting with drugs in her late teens to overcome her shyness and after she first recovered from drug addiction in the 1980s she went on to work with numerous drug charities, including Action on Addiction.

Nick Barton, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said: “Eva worked tirelessly for years, without any desire for public recognition and despite her own health issues, to help people and charities in the addiction field.

“Donations from the Eva and Hans K Rausing Trust were, among other things, directed towards our charity funded treatment programme, which funds people through addiction treatment at Clouds House, Hope House or our SHARP day programmes which could otherwise not afford it or gain access via the state system. We are enormously grateful to Eva and her husband Hans for their generous support.

“During her time as a trustee, which ended in 2003, it was easy to work with her as she was intelligent, conscientious and totally committed. We are incredibly shocked at this devastating news, and offer our deepest sympathy to Eva’s family at this time of great loss."

Mr Kemeny said that during the 1980s Mrs Rausing went around the UK sharing her experiences to give hope and support to others. “This became a major defining endeavour in her short life: to help others, especially those with drug addictions,” he said.

He described her as “a beautiful, generous and fun daughter, wife, mother, sister and aunt” and said she and her husband adored each other and their four children.

Her family hope the tragedy will generate awareness and financial support for the cause, and plan to set up a foundation in her memory in the future.

• Hans Rausing, 49, has been charged with preventing the lawful and decent burial of his wife’s body.