‘We’ll never really know what was in his mind’
The family of a talented young sportsman have spoken of their devastation after he took his own life on a holiday to Corfu without any warning.
William Hughes died at the age of 20 on July 9, 2018, in Corfu, Greece. An inquest later concluded he had taken his own life.
At the time, he was midway through an economics degree at Queen Mary University in London, and setting out on a promising boxing career that had seen him win national titles at college level.
“William was a real tour de force and lived life at a hundred miles an hour. He filled up a room and could charm anyone he would meet. He was always a really confident young boy because his mother put him into acting and he got a role playing the Master in Doctor Who as a child,” said his father Stephen Hughes, 54.
“Everyone knew William, he couldn’t walk 100m without stopping for a chat with someone. He put his all into everything he did and loved boxing, that was all he wanted to do – in February, 2018, he won the British Universities and Colleges Sport Championships.”
William was on a holiday with friends in Corfu, Greece, at the time of the tragedy.
He had sent photos to his father and mother Julie of him seemingly enjoying what seemed like a typical
sunshine break.
But on the last night of the trip, his parents received the devastating news.
“It was the worst phone call in the world. The doctor told us that William was in hospital after he had tried to end his own life,” said Mr Hughes, the chairman of Swansea RFC.
“I don’t know what was running through my mind, all I knew was that I just had to get to an airport and get out there because at that point he was still alive, so I got in the car and drove, probably picking up loads of speeding tickets on the way.
“I got to the Severn Bridge on the way to Bristol Airport and then got the phone call saying that they were unable to resuscitate him. As a parent, you can’t imagine what hearing that is like unless you’ve been through it.
“We flew out to Greece to bring him home. His friends were tremendous throughout it all, I really felt for them that they had been out there and seen it, but they were a huge support.”
William’s family and friends are still trying to understand what happened and why he made the decision to end his life.
“We as a family have tried to piece parts back together. It wasn’t drugs, it wasn’t money problems and I suppose in hindsight the only thing we can think of is that he moved to London and wasn’t enjoying his time up there, we should have just brought him home to Swansea.”
“At home in Swansea, he knew everyone but maybe he was lonely in London, it is so impersonal.
“He was incredibly bright and was studying for his degree and put so much pressure on himself with his boxing. I remember after he won in boxing, he would come off and still say, ‘I could’ve played better’,” added Mr Hughes, who has two other sons.
“Maybe that is why he did it on the last day of his holiday, because he couldn’t handle the thought of moving back to London.”
“He didn’t leave a note so we will never really know why he did it. He had the whole package and everything going for him. I can never really understand what was going on in his mind.”
Now Mr Hughes and his family are trying to stop more families from experiencing the horror they went through.
“I don’t want to hear another story of a young boy taking his own life, it is happening all too often now and we need to do something to stop it. We need to get these young boys talking,” he said.
This summer, one of William’s best friends, Alex Rockefeller from Mumbles RFC, challenged Swansea RFC to take part in a charity rugby match in August.
The charity match saw rugby legends take to the pitch in honour of William and Alex’s sister Abie Rockefeller, who tragically lost her life to sarcoma cancer aged 22 in February this year.
The match took place during the Mumbles Crackers 7s events at Underhill Park and saw Hughes’ supporters wearing white, Rockefeller’s wearing blue and those who knew both wearing both colours.
Of the event, Mr Hughes said: “Half of the money is going to Sarcoma UK and half is going to Swansea Mind.
“Fundraising is amazing but what we really want to do is get people talking about it. The response has been amazing because it is such a topic right now, it resonates with everyone.
“My love and relationship with my son was very personal and private but young men taking their lives is becoming so prevalent that we felt we wanted to raise awareness because we can’t lose any more boys to this – we need to show them that they have a bright future ahead of them.”