The schoolgirl who couldn't go on in fight against anorexia
The parents of a severely anorexic teenager were not warned about her heightened risk of suicide when she was released from hospital, an inquest has found.
Pippa McManus stepped in front of a train five days after she was released from The Priory psychiatric hospital in Altrincham in December 2015.
As the emotional two week inquest into her death came to a close, a jury ruled planning for her hospital discharge was not done well enough.
They also said there was not enough communication with her family over an increased risk of suicide.
But the jury at the Stockport hearing said it was right for the 15-year-old to have been discharged from the hospital.
Pippa had been fighting anorexia for three years before taking her final, fateful last steps at Gatley railway station in December 2015.
Her battle with the illness started at the age of 12 when she started as a pupil at Kingsway School.
A doctor described her anorexia as "probably the most severe" case she had ever seen.
At one point Pippa weighed just 27kg (four stone).
Mum Marie said Pip started to become "obsessed" with looking at her side profile in the mirror and at her chin, asking if it was fat.
Though they were concerned, Marie and dad James did not initially think much of it.
But the teenager became obsessed with her diet and started exercising compulsively.
She joined running and boxing clubs and would survive on very little food.
It was around Christmas 2012 when things began ‘spiralling out of control’ and the family sought medical advice.
She was treated by Stockport Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Galaxy House.
At the age of 13 Pippa was detained under the mental health act and admitted to the Priory, to receive treatment for her crippling illness.
During one visit home, the teenager wrote ‘goodbye’ notes to her family, her doctors and even her beloved dog.
They read: “I do want to grow up and have a life, at the moment I don’t have one.
"I can’t fight anorexia anymore. I have tried so very hard, but it has won me."
After finding these notes, medics stopped Pipp’s overnight visits home for six months before they started again in August 2015.
She was due for release in November 2015 but this was delayed when it was discovered she had bound her feet in tape for two weeks, believing they were fat.
Hidden inside a cuddly toy in her room, staff also found a pencil sharpener blade.
Pippa had been at the psychiatric hospital for more than a year.
And despite concerns from her parents that her treatment had stalled, she was released under a community treatment order on December 4, 2015.
Just five days later she argued with her parents about her excessive gym use.
In an emotional outburst she yelled: "I am going to kill myself now" before running from the family home on Frances Avenue, Gatley.
She travelled to Gatley train station and stepped in front of a train.
In the wake of her tragic death James and Marie set up The Pip Foundation for ABC Anorexia & Bulimia Care.
All money donated will be used to help other people struggling with eating disorders.
In a JustGiving site to support the Foundation, her mother wrote: