A 13-year-old girl who had been struggling with loneliness in lockdown took her own life while on holiday with her family, an inquest has heard. Safia Lardner and her family travelled from Birmingham for a holiday in Exmouth.
On the last day of their Easter break on April 16, 2021, Safia chose not to go swimming at the holiday complex with her family. On their return around an hour to 90 minutes later, she was missing, reports DevonLive.
The family became aware of an air ambulance and emergency services by the holiday park and discovered Safia had fallen from a nearby cliff. Two people who saw what happened had called 999.
Safia was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. It was found that she had been sending messages to a friend saying that she was intending to take her life.
A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of her death was multiple injuries due to a fall from height. The inquest heard Safia had no previous history of mental health illness.
Recording a conclusion of suicide, assistant coroner Luisa Nicholson said: "Safia walked to nearby cliffs, crossed a grassy area leading to the edge and jumped in an apparent means to end her life. It seems from a series of text messages to a friend... she had intended to do so for some days on her holiday."
Addressing the family, she said: "I can't imagine what you have been through and the absolute horror of returning from holiday without Safia."
Her father Robert said: "She was left living without contact with friends or being going able to go to school. Instead, she was stuck at home in front of a computer doing school lessons for six hours at a time.
"She had never had any problems before [with her mental health]. Her brother, who is a little bit older, managed to go out and see his friends but she couldn't see anyone and was lonely. What we found from her text messages was she was trying to meet up with friends but none of them were allowed out because of lockdown."
Her mother Marcia said: "She was always happy and smiley. She loved her dog Freddie. We had no idea she wanted to end her life." She added: "Being on the internet a lot didn't help. It obviously affected her."
Robert added: "She was always top of the class and was the teacher's pet. She liked every subject really and loved drawing."
He said: "We couldn't have any of her friends at the funeral because of lockdown when the limit was 30 people. Now everything is back to how it was except that for us, we are stuck in that time and will never move on. We will never get over it."
Tributes were paid by Safia's former school Park Hill Primary School in Moseley. The school posted on its website: "She was a thoughtful girl, with a quirky sense of humour and a talent for kindness towards others. We will all miss her. As Safia enjoyed caring for birds, we are raising money for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in her memory."
The JustGiving page set up by the school in aid of the RSPB said: "Safia was sensitive and thoughtful, with a quirky sense of humour and a talent for kindness to others."
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