An inquest has heard how a teenage girl committed suicide after she began suffering an allergic reaction to WiFi.
Jenny Fry suffered with crippling headaches, tiredness and bladder problems allegedly brought on by electro-hypersensitivity (EHS).
Jenny’s body was found hanging from a tree at Brooke Woods, near her home in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, at 4.20pm on June 11.
Earlier in the day she’d texted a friend saying she wasn’t going to be in school. A police statement said Jenny texted a friend telling her about her intentions and stating where she was, but her friend didn’t have her phone with her.
An inquest into her death heard how the 15-year-old’s parents claimed her symptoms were caused by an allergy to wireless internet connections at her school. Although they’d removed the WiFi from their own home, it was still used in Chipping Norton School, where she was a pupil.
Mrs Fry explained to Oxfordshire Coroners’ Court that Jenny started showing signs of EHS in November 2012.
She said:
Jenny was getting ill and so was I. I did some research and found how dangerous WiFi could be so I had it taken out of the house.
Both Jenny and I were fine at home but Jenny continued to be ill at school in certain areas.
She was receiving lots of detentions, not for being disruptive in class or misbehaving, but often because she used to take herself out of the classroom to find another where she was able to work. She took her schoolwork seriously.
Mrs Fry told how she took the information into the school to show headteacher, Simon Duffy, but he said there was an equal amount of information saying WiFi was safe. This led to a heated exchange with teachers over the fairness of Jenny being forced to have detention in rooms making her ill.
Mrs Fry believes that her daughter didn’t intend to take her own life and was frustrated about school.
Jenny’s parents are now campaigning to remove WiFi from nurseries and schools and are urging the government to properly research EHS.
Mrs Fry said:
I intend to carry on my campaign to highlight the dangers of WiFi.
I am not against a bit of technology but I do feel schools should be aware that some children are going to be sensitive to it and reduce its use.
Oxfordshire coroner, Darren Salter, said he couldn’t rule out it was a possible cry for help because of the texts she sent to a friend.
He said there was not enough proof to suggest Jenny intended to take her own life and recorded a narrative verdict.
The inquest heard there were no medical notes to prove Jenny suffered from EHS, and the syndrome remains controversial.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.