About Jennifer…Jennifer was the youngest of eight siblings. She was good natured and easy-going. The daughter of Jamaican migrants, she excelled academically and went on to read Law at Queen Mary University.  In her first year, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet for the next twenty years she lived a full and “normal” life with a routine, and support from doctors, her church, family and friends that kept her stable and independent. She even fulfilled her ambition to complete a degree.

Bariatric (Barbaric!) Surgery…Medication caused Jennifer to gain a lot of weight. We, her family, strongly objected to bariatric surgery, but having done the research, Jennifer gave the “right answers” to the doctors. They wrongly assessed her to have 'capacity'. Nowhere in their literature was death, as the ultimate 'side effect' mentioned.

Instead of a less radical two-stage surgery and spite of our objections, in 2010, a large section of Jennifer's stomach and intestine was removed in one go. Subsequently both the psychiatric and the bariatric teams repeatedly failed Jennifer by neglecting her other needs whilst in their care. She never got the care she deserved. This undoubtedly shortened and ruined her life - it became one of constant pain and nausea, turmoil and confusion. Jennifer was detained against her will Terribly ill, she refused essential medication and supplements.

“You’re killing me in here!” – two months before her death.

In the last months, Jennifer lost her hair, was painfully thin and she could hardly walk. The family's cries that she was being allowed to die were denied by the medical teams who constantly reassured us: “we will not let it come to that”. They used force for mental health drugs but not nutritional ones. They further traumatised her fragile body with ECT (electric shock “treatment”). Her condition rapidly deteriorated. After the ECT “treatment”, Jennifer was even more confused and forgetful. Her suffering was to come to an end shortly afterwards. It was only at the point at which Jennifer’s organs were gradually shutting down due to years of starvation, that the doctors pushed to force feed her. By then of course, it was too late to save her.

After four years of needless suffering, pain and indignity, Jennifer died on the 31st July 2017. She was only 44 years old. The loss to us is hugely painful. It has left a gap in the lives of her family and friends.

What Are Our Aims?

We want to send a clear message that doctors, and the institutions need to treat the whole person. Their actions destroyed and shortened her life. They fell short in their duty of care was not fulfilled. No other person should suffer in this way and no other family should experience such unnecessary loss.

The Lewis Family

August 2018