Father shares bullied daughter’s dying moments after she took her own life

A father has shared heartbreaking images of his last moments with his dying daughter in a bid to end online bullying.

Adrian Derbyshire, 42, took the pictures minutes before 16-year-old Julia’s life support was switched off.

He had found his daughter collapsed at home in Warrington after she attempted to hang herself because she was targeted by online bullies.

The two-time Paralympic gold medal winner took the pictures in October 2015 but has only just been able to bring himself to look at them again.

He took the decision to share them online in a bid to raise the profile of the anti-online bullying campaign he has set up in her honour called #SASSY (Support Against Self-harm And Suicide in Youth)

"Releasing these photos was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life" he said.

"I took the photos in the minutes before Julia’s death and buried them on my phone until know because I didn’t want to look at them and I still don’t.

‘But I knew that I was going to need them, obviously to help raise awareness, because I think that the cause is too vital to not use them.

‘Instead of taking her out for champagne to celebrate her 18th birthday, I was placing flowers on her grave.’

Julia was born in the UK before moving to the United States aged four and then back to Warrington a decade later after suffering problems with online bullying and self-harm.

Adrian, who was confined to a wheelchair after a near fatal brain haemorrhage in 2008, tried to incorporate the youngster into his Belief Succeed campaign that works with children to help them prosper through sport.

However, he was unaware she was still being targeted for online abuse and used a false identity in web groups that promoted teenage self-harm and suicide.

And tragedy struck when he discovered her collapsed at their family home.

He said seeing the photos of his stricken daughter for the first time was one of the greatest trials he has faced in his life.

"Seeing the photos raised emotions back to that time and made me feel physically sick"  he said.