Debbie Fox
Age 4826 Aug 2003
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester (United Kingdom)
Suicide
Debbie died by suicide just a few month after transitioning. Her family had apparently not reacted well.
[Deadname] (48), also known as Debbie Fox, was found by neighbour [name redacted] in a car park outside [her] Radcliffe home, with a hose-pipe leading from the exhaust into his vehicle.
[Debbie], of Farringdon Drive, had moved out of the marital home [she] shared with [her] wife, Jacqueline, in Bury, in February last year, following [her] admission that [she] had dressed in women's clothes in secret for most of [her] life.
The Bury inquest, held on Tuesday, heard how the father-of-one changed [her] name and began permanently dressing like a woman after moving into a flat in Radcliffe.
A statement from Mrs Sheehan, read out at the hearing, said that although [Debbie] had suffered from depression due to money problems in the past, when she last spoke to [her] days before [her] death on August 26 last year, she had no concerns for [her] health.
[Debbie], who was an engineering technician at Albany International in Pilsworth, was also in contact with Dr Russell Reid, a psychiatrist from the London Institute. The doctor confirmed that [Debbie] showed no signs of depression on the two occasions they had met.
[Debbie] was taking medication prescribed by [her] GP at Minden Medical Centre, Bury, but had to live and dress as a woman for two years before [she] could have [gender affirming surgery].
Coroner Simon Nelson told the inquest that he had to say with some regret that he thought [Debbie] intended to take her life.
"[Her] death was a deliberate act of self harm whilst the balance of [her] mind was disturbed," he said. "However, I don't think [she] would have self harmed if [she] had not had the anguish and the difficulties associated with [her] transsexualism and health problems, all of which I am sure contributed to an almost impossible dilemma on [her] part."
Editor's Note: I knew Debbie through one of the UK trans Yahoo Groups, and I remember how much of a shock her suicide was to many of the UK trans folks I knew at the time. The photo above was taken on a night out we shared just over 3 weeks before her death.
A memorial gathering was held for Debbie in Manchester in December 2003, and the TGSuicidalSupport Yahoo Group was founded in her memory.
This group was founded in memory of Debbie Fox. Debbie was a vivacious, joyful woman who, one day, found the stress of having a transgendered history too difficult. She took her own life. If you want to do all you can to stop the loss of another life, (perhaps yours), please subscribe to this group. Be there if someone needs you. Know that if life starts to overwhelm you, people will be there for you.
This group is not for chit chat, it's not for anything except support. You don't have to do anything except be a member and be willing to befriend someone if they need some help. If you get a message from this group, you will know someone really needs you. If you post to this group, you will know that people will truly be there for you. If you join you are committing yourself to support and perhaps receiving it. A simple message may be 'right now I could do with a friend. My telephone number is whatever.' The groups membership is open to any TG person, anywhere in the world, who cares and may need caring for.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/TGSuicidalSuppport/info [BROKEN LINK]
