A promising medical student took her own life ahead of the anniversary of her dad's suicide.
An inquest heard Ava-Jane Van Der Merwe, aged 21, who had a history of depression, visited her GP the night before her death and an 'urgent referral' was made to the mental health team.
The young woman should have been contacted that night but an NHS investigation found a member of staff was 'working within old time frames' and Ava-Jane wasn't called until the following day after she had died, LancsLive reported.
The court heard Ava-Jane first saw her GP in 2014 over concerns for her mental health when she was just 13. The following year her family suffered the loss of her father Peter who took his own life aged 38.
Ava-Jane's short life was marked by tragedy. Her mother Mary, a midwife, spoke to at the time about her financial difficulties while she was off work as she grieved for her husband, who took his own life in August 2015, and her daughter, who had a rare brain disorder, who died five moths later.
Over the following years Ava-Jane, from Burscough in Lancashire, was referred to mental health services several times and although she initially expressed a willingness to engage she failed to attend follow-up appointments. In June 2021 she attended A&E at Southport and Ormskirk District General Hospital after telling a friend she felt suicidal.
In August 2022, Ava-Jane's friend Jay Davies called 999 after she had sent him a message on Snapchat saying she had taken an overdose. Jay had asked Ava-Jane where she was and after telling him she was by the locks at the canal-side Ship Inn he raced to the scene.
In a statement made later to police Jay, a bar manager, said: "I arrived first [before the police]. She opened her eyes and was grumbling. I pulled her away from the canal. Her mobile phone rang and I answered it and a woman said she was Jo, Ava's friend Hannah's mum. Fifteen minutes later the police arrived."
An inquest held yesterday (January 9) at Preston Coroner's Court heard how although Ava-Jane, who was studying at biochemistry at the University of Liverpool, was initially semi-conscious, her condition deteriorated as police and Jay waited for the ambulance. Officers started CPR but Ava-Jane was pronounced dead, aged just 21, at Southport and Ormskirk General Hospital at 4.46m on August 13 last year.
Ava-Jane's mum Mary, who asked for the hearing to go ahead without her attending, said in a statement that Ava-Jane had suffered with depression since she was 18. Referring to the night before Ava-Jane died, Mrs Van Der Merwe said: "I was working that day, I arrived home at 7pm and went to see Ava-Jane in her bedroom and asked if she wanted a takeaway. I went to bed and had no idea she had gone out."
The inquest heard several statements from mental health practitioners who have had dealings with Ava-Jane over the years. She told them that she had suicidal thoughts but had not acted on them.
Ava-Jane's GP, Dr Rachel Tilley from Stanley Court Surgery in Burscough, said that the night before Ava-Jane died she had attended an appointment at 7pm. An urgent referral was made to the mental health team and Ava-Jane should have been contacted within one to five hours by staff from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust but it wasn't until the following day when Ava-Jane had already died.
An investigation by the NHS trust revealed that the staff member who was working when the GP's referral was made "was working within the old time frames" and therefore hadn't realised Ava-Jane should have been contacted immediately. Issues with staffing had affected the trust at the time but these were said to have been resolved and other changes have been brought in following Ava-Jane's death.
Assistant Coroner Kate Bisset, who had been provided with a picture of Ava-Jane by her family, described the 21-year-old, who had been enjoying working as a medical secretary at a GP practice, as a "wonderful and happy young woman" who had a bright future ahead of her.
Returning a conclusion of suicide Ms Bisset said: "I am so very sorry to Ava-Jane's family for their loss. Her life had so much promise and potential not withstanding the tragedies she had experienced."
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Armed robber threatened to 'smash' Morrisons worker's head in terrifying cigarettes raid
- Young man's harrowing Snapchat message to girlfriend before he was found dead in country park
- The new Northern Quarter landmark aiming to be the next Beetham Tower
- Michelle Keegan backs Love Island beauty as her second link to the ITV dating show is revealed
- The Manchester entrepreneur rejected by Dragons' Den who just signed a huge deal
