Tyla Cook
Age 1515 Nov 2017
King's Lynn, Norfolk (United Kingdom)
Suicide
Tyla died by suicide. His mother said she believes her son would still be alive if NHS staff had acted differently in the days before his death.
Tyla Cook, 16, had socially transitioned in the month before his death in December 2017.
He had eating issues and struggled with self-harm, an inquest has heard, as well as having depression and anxiety.
At the start of the five-day hearing, the inquest heard from Tyla’s mother, who said her son died six days after taking a drug overdose.
She said “he would still be alive” if Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust had acted differently.
Drake said the family was “not happy” with the way Tyla was treated by paramedics and hospital staff.
The inquest heard that following his overdose on 9 November 2017, Tyla was taken to hospital – carried to the ambulance and forcibly restrained while “very stressed”, despite the fact that his health passport stipulated he should not be restrained.
Once in hospital Tyla, who was autistic, was sedated and then put into an induced coma. The trans teen died six days later on 15 November from a cardiac arrest.
His mum raised concerns, via statement, at the inquest that Tyla had waited in the ambulance for more than two hours outside the hospital before being admitted.
She said she felt excluded from decisions around his medical care and that if medical staff had acted differently he would still be alive.
In a statement read in court, Drake said she had consented on Tyla’s behalf to treatment for the overdose but felt excluded from his further care.
“I felt they were doing things to Tyla without speaking to his parents first,” she said. “We are not happy with the way Tyla was being treated.”
The inquest heard that doctors believe his fatal cardiac arrest was due to his heart being weakened by either a blood clot or the induced coma.
The inquest continues. Tyla Cook, 16, from Church Road in Wretton, near King's Lynn, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn on November 15, 2017.
A five-day inquest at Norfolk Coroner's Court in Norwich started on September 10 and was attended by his mother, Stacey Drake, and grandmother.
Witness evidence said the teenager, who was [assigned female at birth], identified as a boy and suffered with anxiety and depression and had recently been diagnosed with autism.
He had not started any form of gender transition.
Mr Cook had also been an inpatient at the Dragonfly Unit in Lowestoft, run by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), for his eating problems from May to August 2017 and continued to stay under the trust's care.
Giving evidence, Annabella Hudson, who was Mr Cook's care provider at the time, said during a one-to-one session at Thurlow House, in King's Lynn, in November he said he had taken an overdose of an over the counter drug that morning.
She said: "The day before he had been more talkative but there was a noticeable change. He wasn't communicating at all. I felt worried. Something definitely had happened.
"I knew I wanted him to go to hospital to be checked. I couldn't persuade him. He had shut down. He was not talking and had his head in his hands.
"I knew the only way we could get him to hospital was to hold him forcibly to remove him."
After the paramedics arrived, called by Thurlow House staff, two paramedics and three Thurlow House staff members had to carry him to the ambulance.
Mrs Hudson said she stayed with the teenager in the ambulance where he was "very stressed".
The inquest heard Mr Cook was put into an induced coma and on the morning of November 15, he had a cardiac arrest and died.
The inquest heard how a doctor believed his heart was weakened by a blood clot or the induced coma, according to Miss Drake.
In a statement, the teenager's mother believed her son "would still be alive" if NSFT had acted differently.
She raised further concerns that the 16-year-old had waited in the ambulance for more than two hours outside the hospital before being admitted.
Miss Drake added that being restrained went against the instructions in his health passport.
She continued that she felt excluded over decisions about her son's hospital care.
The inquest continues.
The mother of a teenager with gender identity issues has criticised the care he received in the days before he died.
Tyla Cook, 16, "disliked" being a girl and adopted male pronouns in the months before his death in 2017, an inquest heard.
At the start of a five-day hearing, Tyla's mother Stacey Drake said he died six days after taking a drug overdose.
She said "he would still be alive" if Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust had acted differently.
Ms Drake said the family was "not happy" with the way Tyla was treated by paramedics and hospital staff.
Tyla, of Wretton near Downham Market, Norfolk, had depression and anxiety, and began assessment by a specialist gender identity clinic in London in November 2016.
He told doctors "he disliked being a girl and would like to be a boy", the court heard, and had started using male pronouns the following January.
At that time he also began taking medication to help with his mental health, but also struggled with self-harm and eating issues.
Tyla's assessment with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) ended after three appointments in May 2017, when he was admitted to an inpatient unit for three months, but in October he made contact with them again.
'Not happy' at treatment Following his overdose on 9 November 2017, Tyla's condition was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn.
The procedure to bring him out of an induced coma two days later was delayed and on 15 November he suffered a cardiac arrest, after which his parents agreed to switch off life support.
In a statement read in court, Ms Drake said she had consented on Tyla's behalf to treatment for the overdose but felt excluded from his further care.
"I felt they were doing things to Tyla without speaking to his parents first," she said. "We are not happy with the way Tyla was being treated."
She raised further concerns that Tyla had waited in the ambulance for more than two hours outside the hospital before being admitted. Her son, who had autism, had also been restrained in the vehicle, against instructions in his health passport.
The inquest continues.
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/teenager-died-after-drugs-overdose-1-6262920
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-49653136
