'Desperate' man called 999 and said two heartbreaking words before he died
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A man who dialed 999 in a moment of desperation told a GP dealing with call handlers "forget it" just minutes before falling off a bridge to his death. Andrew Heys had visited the spot at the Manchester Ship Canal the day before, but couldn't bring himself to jump. An inquest into his death found that the 29-year-old suffered a severe reaction to a Covid booster vaccine in 2021 and developed a life-changing auto-immune disease from it, which caused his mental health to deteriorate.
Mr Heys, from Salford, had to re-learn how to speak and walk as a result of the adverse reaction. His heartbroken family watched on as his final hours were explored during a hearing at Bolton Coroners' Court. Assistant coroner John Pollard said Mr Heys left his flat in Eccles, Greater Manchester, on the night of March 12, 2024. His mum had been staying with him.
In the early hours, he called for an ambulance and said the two heartbreaking words before cutting the line during a conversation with an on-call doctor. His body was found by police divers three days later. Counselling manager Rebecca Turner said Mr Heys had attempted to take his own life the day before before returning home. "He told me he had gone to the place where he would end his life. He didn't tell me where," she added.
Mr Pollard asked Ms Turner: "You were concerned at this point about his keeping himself safe?" She replied: "Yes. We did discuss calling 999, and obviously he did try to reach out." Mr Heys, the court heard, called 999 in the early hours. He was triaged by on-call locum GP Dr Naheed Anjum Noor, who told the court she didn't hear everything My Heys said because the line was poor.
