“IF you let her go she will be dead in a matter of hours.”
It was the desperate warning a devastated father gave staff at a Hampshire psychiatric hospital as he begged them not to release his daughter over fears she would kill herself.
Just hours later, his plea seemingly ignored, his 22- year-old daughter Victoria plunged to her death from a Southampton tower block.
Shortly before, Graham Nye had received a phone call from Victoria who told him she was being released from Southampton’s Department of Psychiatry (DOP), based at the Royal South Hants Hospital, despite pleading with doctors to let her stay.
Mr Nye says that against warnings from himself and medical notes he claims were issued from a family doctor detailing how his daughter was in need of urgent care, Victoria was told by psychiatrists that she “could not be helped” at the centre and would be released.
Police called at Mr Nye’s home early last Thursday morning to tell him Victoria had died after falling from the 13th floor balcony of her flat in Dumbletons Tower in Thornhill.
“I told doctors that if they let her leave she would be dead within a matter of hours. And she was,” he said.
Speaking to the Daily Echo after bosses f r o m H a m p s h i re Partnership N H S Foundat i o n Trust revealed an internal inquiry is under way over her death, Mr Nye said his daughter had been tormented for eight years with mental illness and this was the first time she was willing to get help.
He said: “She had finally taken that huge step and acknowledged that she needed help. She was at the psychiatry unit voluntarily.
She was beginning to turn her life around.”
Mr Nye added: “When she phoned me and told me they had let her go, she said they had told her it was because she was normal and shouldn’t be there.
“She said they told her ‘they could not help her’. She took this to mean that she had something wrong with her but could not be helped.”
Mr Nye said he had contacted the DOP and asked them not to release Victoria and was assured his comments and request would be shared with doctors treating her.
A former school pupil at St Anne’s School in Southampton and The Mountbatten School in Romsey, Victoria had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago.
But after reacting badly to medication, Mr Nye said that experts had recently told his daughter they believed she was suffering from a personality disorder, which required separate treatment.
Mr Nye said Victoria w o u l d describe the times when she was down as a “ t r a i n w r e c k ”
which often led to violent outbursts at her loved ones, and at its worst would lead to her self harming.
On a few occasions Victoria had also previously tried to commit suicide.
Paying tribute to his daughter, Mr Nye said he was proud of how she was turning her life around after problems at school.
He said after completing a series of Open University courses and an entry level course at Eastleigh College, Victoria was on course to later join Southampton University and train to become a doctor.
“She was incredibly intelligent and beautifully stunning.
Some would say she was too smart for her own good as she would often overthink things.
“She loved having a debate and could argue about anything.
She was very popular and would speak to people from all walks of life.”
“She was incredibly colourful and although she did have some dark episodes that were very difficult for those who loved her, when she was bright and breezy it more than outweighed the times she wasn’t herself.”
Victoria was discharged from the DOP on Wednesday evening after admitting herself two weeks earlier.
At around 12.10am on Thursday morning she was found outside the Thornhill tower block after plunging more than 100ft from the top floor balcony and despite resuscitation efforts of neighbours who found her, died from her injuries.
Mr Nye said: “I have no doubt that she killed herself because she felt there was no help for her.”
The father-of-two – he has a son called Jon – is now seeking answers as to why Victoria was released despite her medical history and warnings he says were made by health professionals.
Bosses at the DOP, which came under fire five years ago after a memo leaked a series of care failures, have said an inquiry has been launched into her discharge.
Nick Yeo, chief executive of Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “I extend my deepest sympathy to Victoria Nye’s family and friends at this difficult time.
“Whenever such tragic events take place the Trust always undertakes a full review that includes the views and any concerns expressed by the family.
“That process has begun and the Trust will be making contact with Ms Nye’s family to involve them in the process and to offer them any support we can.”
