SUSAN Gates Grimwood's family will always cling on to the memory of the loving, intelligent, and bubbly woman they once knew.Today, two days after the body of the Kesgrave mother-of-two was discovered in the River Deben, her former husband, Terry, paid tribute to the 48-year-old whose life was destroyed by mental illness.

SUSAN Gates Grimwood's family will always cling on to the memory of the loving, intelligent, and bubbly woman they once knew.

Today, two days after the body of the Kesgrave mother-of-two was discovered in the River Deben, her former husband, Terry, paid tribute to the 48-year-old whose life was destroyed by mental illness.

Just hours before Mother's Day, the family had their worst fears confirmed when Mrs Gates Grimwood's body was found by a coastguard in the river near Sutton.

She had been missing for six days after leaving St Clement's Hospital in Foxhall Road, Ipswich, where she was being treated for severe depression.

Despite being sectioned the former midwife and health visitor had walked out of the grounds and got a taxi to Deben swimming pool in Woodbridge on February 27. She was last seen walking towards the town's railway station.

Mr Gates Grimwood still lives in the family home, in St Olaves Road, with the couple's two children Luke, 20, and Faye, 18.

He said: “It was only in the last few months that her condition became psychological.

“The real Sue was very caring. She would always send flowers if someone was ill or go to see if she could help.

“She was very bouncy and full of life. She loved people, in fact I would say people were her hobby. She was also very intelligent.”

His ex-wife had battled with the debilitating condition Lupus for 20 years. Over the past few years she had also suffered with depression.

Mr Gates Grimwood said his ex-wife had been consumed by her ill health and believes it eventually destroyed her life.

He said: “It was a terrible thing to watch and at times we felt so helpless.

“The last week has been awful and although we all feared she may have taken her own life, we kept hoping we were wrong.

“I kept thinking she may have been staying with a friend or just have gone somewhere by herself.

“It was still a huge shock to have our fears confirmed with a phone call on Saturday evening.”

Mr Gates Grimwood said he would like to thank the medical staff who cared for his wife and the police who he says helped tirelessly in their search.

Mr Gates Grimwood said her body had been found after somebody had seen his desperate appeal in The Evening Star on Friday .

He said: “Somebody had found a hat like the one Susan had been wearing when she left the hospital.

“At the time they had thought nothing of it, but once they read the article which stated what she was wearing they contacted the police and the search was narrowed down to where her body was eventually found.”

An inquest will be held into Mrs Gates Grimwood's death.