An “intelligent, dedicated” woman took her own life after she struggled to afford her rent and buy food.
Yee-King Ho, known as ‘Fion' to loved ones came to London from Hong Kong in April 2022.
The 27-year-old moved into a flat in Richmond in what her family hoped was an exciting new chapter in her life, an inquest heard.
But brother Tommy Ho Yiu Hang began to worry when his sister revealed she was battling insomnia, losing hair and struggling to afford her £900 “unhygienic” flat share.
Tommy, living back in Hong Kong, later found after her death that Fion had kept a notebook entry detailing what days she would eat lunch or dinner, in a desperate attempt to save money.
When Fion didn’t show up for her job at a charity campaigning for female education, or answer her phone, Tommy asked one of her three housemates to check on her.
They tragically discovered that Fion had taken her own life and she was pronounced dead on November 3, 2022.
Her death was listed as a suicide, Coroner Dr Anton van Dellen confirmed yesterday.
Tommy would only later learn the full extent of his sister’s struggles, including that she had booked counselling sessions for depressive symptoms due to take place just four days after she took her own life.
In a statement read by the coroner, MyLondon reported Tommy said: "She mentioned to me on September 7, 2022 that since July, she was worried about her income and was not able to sustain her life in the UK and felt depressed.
"The hygiene condition of the bathroom made her feel uncomfortable … this made her pressure build up and fall to a loss of strength to work from home and live at home. And she seldom left her room.
"She was scared she will be laid off from work due to stress and face a loss of income due to her poor working performance. Due to insufficient income, I think she has begun to limit her meals per day."
He added: "To my sister. I feel so sorry for the pressure and pain you suffered. I only knew them all after your death. I always wish I can stop this tragedy, but it is impossible. I can only accept the fact and follow your will on taking care of our parents. I wish you are now in heaven in a much better place without any pain, pressure and comparison. Only with freedom, joyful life. Rest in peace, my beloved sister."
The coroner described Fion as an “intelligent, dedicated” young woman.
She had studied her undergraduate degree in Hong Kong in 2017 and completed a masters degree in Geneva, in 2019.
Then she made the move to the UK a few years later in April 2022 and had planned to stay in the country.
Coroner Dr Anton van Dellen told the inquest: “I am only very sorry that the time she spent in England was clearly not a happy time for her. England is enriched by having such strong links to Hong Kong and benefits enormously from having people from Hong Kong coming to live and work in England.
"Fion is an excellent example of the high calibre of person who is so welcome in England. She was clearly a very highly intelligent and dedicated humanitarian worker. The world is a much sorry-er place for not having her in organisations that help people in need. I hope her family holds dear to them the memory that Fion was someone who wanted to try and make the world a better place.
"I don't underestimate how difficult it is for a young person living far away from their family in a city such as London. Her brother explained how Fion rented a room for £900 a month sharing the bathroom and communal spaces. Unfortunately this is a problem faced by any young people in London where a low salary struggles to cover the costs of rent and eating.
"And one of the most upsetting pieces of evidence that I heard was evidence that it appears that Fion had limited her eating due to insufficient income."
The coroner praised her brother for giving extensive evidence from Fion's phone records, search history and movements in the days before her death to assist the coroner's enquiry.
He added: "Pulling the threads together of what he has uncovered is by any stretch of the imagination, a very impressive document. Not least considering that this is a grieving brother."
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
