A University of York student, Charles Henry Johnson, tragically took his own life after mistakenly believing he was suffering from incurable cancer.
The 18-year-old computer science student, described as “happy to start university” and achieving top grades in his academic career, was found deceased in his dorm room on September 20th, 2023.
According to reports, Charles had been self-diagnosing his health for the past two years, believing he had stage four bowel cancer.
He had written notes and created blog entries expressing his fear of the supposed illness, which a post-mortem examination later confirmed to be entirely nonexistent. Charles’ organs were found healthy, and no traces of cancer were detected.
Research on campus revealed that Charles declined socializing with his housemates and kept to himself, citing unpacking as the reason.
When his father, James, grew concerned after not hearing from him for several days, he contacted the university. Safety officers found Charles unresponsive in his locked room and declared him dead at the scene.
He believed the illness was “not survivable,” according to a local news report.
Notes found in his room suggested he made the heartbreaking decision to end his life rather than face the perceived suffering of the illness.
Described by his father as “an excellent student, very intelligent” with aspirations to become a computer engineer, Charles had achieved exceptional grades in math, physics, and computer science in high school. He was reportedly excited to embark on his university journey.
Prior to starting university, Charles had received brief mental health support in his hometown in 2021, with recommendations to reduce his online time.
His father later reported significant improvement in his mental state.
Tragically, after arriving at the university, Charles interaction with his housemates declined and he became unresponsive to messages from his family.
When his father expressed concern, the university conducted a welfare check, finding Charles deceased in his locked room.
Authorities found no evidence of foul play, with the cause of death determined to be suffocation.
Charles’ body showed increased ketone levels, potentially linked to fasting, a pathologist couldn’t establish a definitive link to his mental health or cause of death.
The tragedy has deeply affected the university community, with a spokesperson stating, “We were deeply saddened by the death of Charles and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Since we shared the very sad news with our staff and students, we continue to encourage anyone who is struggling to contact us for further advice and support.”(Guardian’)
