Dad releases chilling last photo of bullied girl who took own life
MINUTES from death, 16-yearold Julia Derbyshire lies in a hospital bed after online bullies drove her to attempt suicide.
And on what would have been her 18th birthday, her heartbroken father released the deeply upsetting photos he took before her life support machine was switched off, to highlight the tragic consequences of abuse on social media.
Julia had endured years of merciless online bullying before she attempted to take her own life by hanging. Her father, Adrian Derbyshire, found her collapsed at home in Warrington, Cheshire, and rushed her to hospital. But there was little that could be done, and five days later on october 19, 2015, he said his final farewell.
Mr Derbyshire, 42, a two-time Paralympic gold medal-winning fencer who set up an antibullying campaign in Julia’s honour, said it was ‘vital’ that parents realise the dangers that children face when online.
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. I still don’t.
‘But I knew I was going to use them, to help raise awareness, because I think that the cause is too vital to not use them.’ Julia was born in Britain before her family relocated to the US when she was four. But they moved back to Warrington ten years later after she suffered problems with online bullying and self-harm.
Mr Derbyshire said he was unaware she was still being targeted back in the UK, but after her death he found she had been using an alias to secretly browse websites promoting self-harm and teen suicide.
After recovering from a nearfatal brain haemorrhage in 2008 that confined Mr Derbyshire to a wheelchair, he later took up fencing and went on to win two golds and three silvers with Team GB at the London Paralympics in 2012. But he insisted that seeing the photos of his stricken daughter for the first time was one of the greatest trials he has faced in his life.
His campaign to raise awareness of online bullying, called #SASSY (Support Against Self-Harm and Suicide in Youth), aims to educate both parents and children. He said: ‘Instead of taking Julia out for champagne to celebrate her 18th birthday, I was placing flowers on her grave. 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.’
He added: ‘What has kept me going is talking to kids in schools about this. It kills me in a way – I lose a part of my soul every time I talk about Julia. But I also know the campaign is saving lives.’
Incidents of online bullying of children have soared in recent years, with the NSPCC saying that it is now the ‘main type’ of bulling among schoolchildren and amounts to a generational crisis. For confidential support call the samaritans on 116123 or go to samaritans.org
‘The campaign is saving lives’