Heartbroken dad shares images of bullied daughter minutes from death
* Warning: Contains picture some may find distressing. *
A devastated dad has released heart-wrenching images of his daughter moments before her life support machine was turned off.
Julia Derbyshire had tried to take her own life by hanging five days earlier after suffering at the hands of online bullies.
Adrian Derbyshire shared the deeply personal pictures on what would have been his daughter’s 18th birthday.
Adrian, a two-time Paralympic fencing gold medalist and anti-bullying campaigner, said he had been unable to look at the images until now – 17-months after his daughter’s death.
He said: “Releasing these photos was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life.
“I took the photos in the minutes before Julia’s death and buried them on my phone until now because I didn’t want to look at them and I still don’t.
“But I knew that I was going to use them, obviously to help raise awareness, because I think that the cause is too vital to not use them.
“Instead of taking her out for champagne to celebrate her 18th birthday, I was placing flowers on her grave.”
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Adrian found his daughter collapsed at home in Warrington, Cheshire, in October 2015. After frantically administering CPR, he rushed her to hospital.
Julia had recently returned to the U.K. after 10 years in the U.S. where she had been suffering at the hands of online bullies and with self-harm.
Adrian had attempted to draw Julia into his Inspire Believe Succeed campaign, which aims to help bring out the best in children through sport.
But the online abuse against her carried on, and she was found to have been visiting groups promoting teenage self-harm and suicide under a fake name.
Adrian said: “Seeing the photos raised emotions back to that time and made me feel physically sick.
“But if it can help a parent or a family not to go through what I have been through then that is what the campaign is all about.
“The response has been very overwhelming – I have had messages from families who have lost their teenagers and children and they have thanked for releasing the photos.
“It also shows just how desperate the issue is and how needed the campaigns that I do are.”
Adrian is hoping to raise awareness of online bullying and mental health in young people using the Twitter account @TheJDCampaign and the hashtags #SASSY and #InspireBelieveSucceed.
Support and advice is available from the Samaritans on 116123.
