A British teen who feared being isolated with coronavirus tragically died after attempting to take her own life.
Emily Owen, a 19-year old waitress from Kings Lynn, Norfolk, died in hospital on Sunday after trying to take her own life due to fears of the “mental health impacts” of isolation amid the COVID-19 outbreak. She had warned loved ones days before the tragedy: “More people will die from suicide during this than the virus itself”, The New York Post reports.
Owen warned relatives before she was found in critical condition that she was unable to deal with “her world closing in, plans being canceled and being stuck inside” during the global pandemic. Her family suspect the “fear of the unknown” may have driven her over the edge.
Owen had been in critical condition since the suicide attempt and relatives later decided to remove her from life support, allowing doctors to prep her organs for donation, according to an online fundraiser posted by colleagues at the pub where she worked.
“We are heartbroken that we won’t see her breeze through our doors like a tornado of energy again, or hear her distinctive laugh,” the post reads. “She was a big part of our team and we will miss her enormously.”
Her sister Annabel Owen, said her family was “absolutely devastated” by the loss, the Sun reports.
“Emily was very concerned about coronavirus itself but more concerned about the mental health impact of isolation and the fear of the unknown,” Annabel Owen, 21, wrote in a Facebook post, which has since been deleted.
Owen had been diagnosed with “high-functioning autism” four years ago and struggled to fit in, her sister said.
“She didn’t want anyone to know, but now she has gone, we want to make people know that autism comes in all shapes and sizes,” she wrote.