Tragic last wish was to give hope to other people

Christopher Thorne, of St James’s Crescent, told mother Dee on Tuesday, February 26, that he was going out to visit a friend. But instead he rode his motorbike to Beachy Head where he jumped to his death.

Now Dee, her partner Tony Garrett and younger son Peter must try to come to terms with the loss of a much-loved young man who enjoyed tinkering with engines and having a laugh.

Chris was a long-term sufferer of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), consumed with worry about his physical health and who felt he was not getting the help and attention he needed. In October he was told his income support would be stopped and he would receive Jobseekers Allowance, and this added to his stress and depression because he felt he could not cope with added pressure.

Chris believed his IBS had been initially caused by a parasite caught from a dog and having researched this online he took medication he bought on Ebay.

Dee said: “He didn’t get the help and support he needed and he felt let down by the system. He didn’t think people were believing him as to how serious his problem was.”

Chris had already made one attempt at suicide but was saved by a Samaritan warden at Beachy Head.

At this point a crisis team stepped in to closely monitor him but overall medical support came “too little, too late” according to Dee, and Chris decided he couldn’t carry on with life.

In the last few months he took to writing his feelings down so that his experience could help other people to not suffer on their own.

He wrote: “My life revolves around my stomach and a little hope that one day I might be better. Some don’t even believe me and just think I am going mad. All this, and the depression because your life’s not going anywhere, really makes you think - what is the point? So why is this treated so poorly on the NHS and people are in chronic pain in this day and age?”

He added: “I haven’t a voice that will get heard, I guess I am just a number in society, and I’m not famous so I don’t get heard...I can only hope my story will save someone else and raise awareness.”

Dee and Chris moved to Bexhill a year ago from Coneyburrow Gardens in St Leonards, where they lived since 2000. Christopher attended St Paul’s primary school, Filsham Valley and Tile Barn, but left school at age 14.

“He was Christopher,” said Dee. “He was different, a one-off.”

A funeral service was held at Hastings crematorium last Wednesday and the family was touched that some 200 people - young and old - attended to pay their respects, later swapping memories of his quiet, funny, quirky character such as the time he filled the kitchen at home with trolley-loads of chocolate creme eggs to sell for profit, or how he could take a bike or car apart and then rebuild it.

Dee said: “Everybody thought the world of him. He was a lovely boy.”

Donations to be made in his name to ServSussex charity.

Go to wwwservsussex.org.uk