Will Young: Caring for my suicidal twin was ‘too much’
WiLL Young has told how caring for his suicidal twin brother became ‘too much’ before his tragic death.
An inquest heard the singer became so overwhelmed that he reported Rupert Young to police as a trespasser and had him removed from his house.
Rupert, 41, jumped from Westminster Bridge in central London after suffering from mental illness for many years.
Days earlier emergency workers had found him on the bridge and persuaded him to come down before taking him to A&E.
But his body was found in the Thames on August 2, still wearing a hospital tag.
Will, who rose to f ame after winning Pop idol in 2002, attended his brother’s inquest yesterday alongside their mother.
He told the hearing Rupert could no longer look after his own life and had previously attempted suicide.
‘i was a carer for him, but it became too much,’ he said at Poplar Coroner’s Court in east London. ‘He could not look after himself and i did not believe he could look after his own life.’
The singer added: ‘i feel it is difficult for me. i am someone who is pretty in control over my emotional well-being. i am a functional adult. i have done a lot of work on myself.’
Rupert had been admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital on July 28 after trying to jump from Westminster Bridge but discharged himself before taking his own life. He had alcohol in his system at the time he died, a toxicology report showed. The medical cause of death was given as immersion.
He had been in a ‘dark place’ and was sometimes drinking up to 20 beers a day, the inquest was told.
The coroner heard Rupert had an ongoing problem with alcohol, a painkiller addiction and suffered with PTSD. Will said: ‘Rupert struggled with depression and anxiety, i would say for 20 years.
‘Over that time, more times than i can think of, there have been suicide attempts or suicide ideation. Most of the time... it would be a cry for help. There were few times actually that he had gone full, full, full through with it.’
He added: ‘i can think of about five times that he really got to the state of it being really life threatening and maybe only two of those times when no one was there.’
Rupert, who set up a mental health charity called The Mood Foundation in the late 2000s, had lived with Will on and off for three years. But the singer struggled to cope with his brother and had him removed f rom his house and reported for trespassing a week before his tragic death.
Rupert moved into a hotel, which was paid for by his partner in the US after becoming homeless on July 24 but was kicked out on July 28, hours before his admission to hospital.
Mental health liaison nurse Kathryn Lowe, who assessed him, said he informed her that his PTSD had kicked in following an argument with a woman at the hotel.
He did not have a support network of friends and cited Will as his motivation to become sober.
Miss Lowe said: ‘He spoke of his brother fondly and how much he valued their relationship.’
He had also opened up about protecting Will from bullies during their time at school, Miss Lowe said. Rupert had previously told how he started self-harming by cutting himself while at private school Wellington College in Berkshire.
Will, who has released seven albums and enjoyed a successful acting career, has previously spoken publicly about his own mental health struggles.
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‘He could not look after himself’