A 12-year-old girl wracked with grief over the death of her mother sadly took her own life.
Isabel Ann Richardson, 12, had lost her mother to breast cancer four years earlier and had struggled to cope with her grief since the event.
After displaying a history of self-harm on her social media accounts, the primary school girl was found unconscious in her bedroom in May.
The UK schoolgirl had been meeting regularly with a grief counsellor who described Isabel as a “happy, funny girl”, who struggled with “feelings of worthlessness and loss”.
Isabel’s father was alerted to his daughter’s self-harming after her brother called him to tell him that she was once again posting picture of self-harm on her social media networks.
After receiving that call, Mr Richardson had gone to check on his daughter only to find she had attempted suicide.
Isabel died six days later from her injuries.
However, despite Isabel’s Instagram posts, Coroner Jacqueline Lake expressed doubt that her attempt at suicide was intentional, claiming that it could have been a ‘cry for help’.
“This could have been a cry for help,” said Ms Lake.
Her distraught father told the coroner’s court, “She said she was okay … And told me she has stopped cutting herself.”
“She seemed a lot better since the meetings at the school.”
“I was aware of her self harm, but I never thought for a second she would do anything like take her own life. I will always think I could have done more.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, or has depressive thoughts, please contact the following helplines:
Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800, http://www.kidshelp.com.au/
Headspace – 18000 650 890, http://headspace.org.au/
Lifeline – 13 11 14, https://www.lifeline.org.au/
