Gifted Hanley student was killed by pills overdose
A TRANSSEXUAL student died of an overdose after she struggled to come to terms with her desire to live as a woman, an inquest heard.
Natasha Lauren Brown was born Charles Nicolas James Corcoran, but changed her name in 2011.
The 20-year-old, of Hanley, had also planned to undergo hormone therapy after making the decision to live and dress as a woman.
But the gifted Staffordshire University photography student descended into depression after suffering taunts, and was once knocked unconscious by a thug in a random attack.
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An inquest into her death yesterday heard how Natasha, known to friends as Tash, had a history of harming herself after suffering mental health problems throughout her teenage years.
She died on May 14 of liver failure, four days after taking an overdose of co-codamol tablets.
North Staffordshire Deputy Coroner Anthony Curzon recorded a verdict of accidental death after deciding he could not be sure Natasha intended to take her own life.
Now her family are calling for a better understanding of transgender issues and believe their daughter could have been saved if her problems had been identified sooner.
The inquest heard how Natasha had come into contact with various mental health professionals, and the family raised concerns about finding women's clothes and beauty products in their home.
But their concerns were apparently ignored.
Natasha's mother Sheelagh Corcoran said: "Natasha – as Charles – was first in hospital at 15 years old.
"I spoke to a psychologist and said I had found some items of women's underwear and make-up in his room.
"We had to go to meetings and they always told us about the dozens of questionnaires and assessments they had done on Charles. But they never said anything about any gender issues.How could they miss something so fundamental?"
On the day of her overdose, Natasha was discovered in bed by her girlfriend Susan Latham, surrounded by empty tablet containers at the house they shared in Regent Road, Hanley.
Susan called an ambulance and Natasha was treated at the former City General hospital in Hartshill, before being transferred to a specialist unit at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she deteriorated and later died.
Coroner Mr Curzon said her death had resulted from liver failure due to paracetamol overdose, gender dysmorphia, depression and personality disorder.
He added: "This is a very, very sad case. Perhaps one of the saddest I've come across.
"We have a young lady who was clearly very disturbed for some time."
Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Corcoran said: "We'd just like to say we strongly believe the mental health services could have done more to help her than they did."
Fiona Wood, a friend of Natasha's who advised students on gender issues while president of Staffordshire University's students union, said: "Some people just don't understand the issue and how society can turn against the individual."
Comments
by PurityVendeta
Saturday, September 22 2012, 3:19AM
“The attitudes toward transsexual people in Stoke on Trent are disgusting and something the city should be ashamed of. As a woman with a transsexual history I have personally been on the receiving end of the rampant prejudice which extends down from city council employees to the local inhabitants. I stress that there are some lovely and understanding people but there is a lot of bigotry and ignorance too.
At my lowest point I experienced the same total lack of support which Natasha felt and was forced out of my home by threats of physical violence and verbal abuse. I was incredibly lucky that someone I met in the town I now live in literally rescued me and selflessly supported me until my psychological state was such that I was in far less danger of taking my own life. I just wish I could have been there to try to offer my support to Natasha when she desperately needed help.
A word of advice to The Sentinel, it is incredibly disrespectful to reinforce the refer to us by the name given to us at birth as you did in your second sentence after we have taken steps to change our name. Doing what you have done simply gives the impression that you don't see our female identity as valid and reinforces the bigotry we suffer.
Research shows that with the correct support and treatment we tend to have the highest success rates of any psychological and physical treatments. Unfortunately a survey of medical professionals found that 86% did not believe we should receive treatment funded by the NHS. I wonder if people can imagine how we feel when we see binge drinkers being treated without question for their self inflicted injuries. We can no more choose to be transsexual that you can choose your height or eye colour.
All I can say is I'm glad to still be here and hope that I can earn the money I need to pay for my surgery and other treatment as the urge to take my own life is nothing to do with being unhappy with my gender, it's the withholding of treatment which kills us.”