Dead island save editor 20185/1/2023 ![]() “Given the significant impact this decision could have on how all higher education providers support their students, we are reviewing the decision carefully, including whether to appeal. “We cannot replicate the NHS but are committed to working with the NHS and other partners to improve services and ensure we are collectively providing the best possible support for students. ![]() We are very grateful to them for their endeavours on Natasha’s behalf and for their unwavering commitment to our students. “Our staff’s efforts also included offering alternative options for Natasha’s assessments to alleviate the anxiety she faced about presenting her laboratory findings to her peers. “We believe staff in the School of Physics worked incredibly hard and diligently to support Natasha during her time with us, and it was due to their efforts that she was receiving specialist mental health support from the NHS. Bob adds: “ We want to be consulted and fight for change.”įollowing the case’s conclusion last week, a University of Bristol spokesperson said: “Our whole university community has been deeply affected by Natasha’s tragic death and we would once again like to extend our sympathies to her friends and family. “Instead of investing in the sticky plaster to put it right, what they need to do is stop causing the problem in the first place,” Margaret told The Tab. The LEARN Network believe that improving internal processes and information sharing within the university could save lives. Hiring more wellbeing advisors will “get the press off their backs,” but for Natasha’s parents, they think the problem needs to be tackled at source. Together they believe that the university sector’s efforts to combat the “student mental health crisis,” are being focussed in the wrong areas. They’ve joined forces with a group of bereaved parents and family members, calling themselves The LEARN Network and campaigning for change. Natasha’s parents aren’t sitting on their hands waiting for the University of Bristol to announce if it’s going to appeal the decision and, in Bob’s words, “kick the can down the road for another two years.” If they really don’t have the resources to help people, phone the parents!” ‘Instead of investing in the sticky plaster to put it right, what they need to do is stop causing the problem in the first place’ She adds: “There’s been this belief that universities are doing the right thing and doing as much as they can, but in my view they’ve never really gone back and looked in sufficient detail at what happens when things go wrong which they need to do because those are the things that can be fixed. Four years on what changes have been made? Well, if they haven’t acknowledged the problem, I don’t see what changes could have been made.” By the end of the inquest we were pretty sure we had a case. “We had sufficient information three and a half years ago to make changes. Students are opting out of university now. Margaret said: “The more you delay, the more students are suffering. ‘Four years on, what changes have been made?’īob and Margaret say they had discovered what the uni had done wrong in the months before Natasha’s death, which is why they find it all the more frustrating that instead of implementing proper changes, the uni has spent time and money fighting them in court. The Abraharts were awarded £50,518 in damages, but the University of Bristol is now considering appealing the decision. Last week, a court found the university did not make reasonable adjustments to Natasha’s assessment in light of her anxiety and therefore discriminated against her under the Equality Act, ultimately leading to her death. We knew we had a strong case.”īob was right. There was no way we weren’t going to court. “We were so angry at the way things had gone on, the way we were treated by the university. “The decision to take them to court was made at the end of the inquest,” Bob said. This was too much for Natasha, who was found dead in her flat later that day.Īfter an inquest revealed the cause of death to be suicide, her parents were spurred into action. And to some extent this was a functional coping mechanism.īut in April 2018, she was due to give an assessed presentation in a lecture theatre in front of 40 classmates. Her parents recall how friends would speak on her behalf in class when she was asked a question. While she had a tight-knit group of mates and a loving boyfriend, she struggled speaking to people she didn’t know very well. Natasha Abrahart had chronic Social Anxiety Disorder.
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