A young British man who for years struggled with severe depression left a heartbreaking final Facebook post before taking his own life.
Niall Parakos, a 21-year-old university student from Newcastle, didn’t seek help from those closest to him for over three years as he ‘didn’t want to burden them’, Chronicle Live reports.
Parakos sought help from counsellors as well as his doctor, but after feeling like they and the medication he was being prescribed weren’t helping, he turned his attention to purchasing recreational drugs online in a desperate attempt to feel well enough to complete the final remaining months of his degree.
An inquest into Parakos’ death ruled that it was not appropriate to rule his death as suicide after he was found to have consumed MDMA before falling to his death off Armstrong Bridge.
Pathologist Dr Clive Bloxham said Parakos had such a high level of MDMA in his system that it could’ve caused death in its own right. However, Niall left one final Facebook status before his heartbreaking death.
Niall also wrote a note before his death stating he ‘hopes the next person to seek help has better luck’.
Niall’s mother Rosemary said, “I’m not the same and I never will be”, and is pushing for a change in university policy after they failed to inform his family he had previously gone to the bridge with suicidal tendencies.
Parakos’ flatmate Sam, 21, said after the inquest: “We wanted to know how to get help but were always told he needs to ask for help himself – but what if you’re not in a fit state of mind? Where do you draw the line?”
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