When celebrities pass away, an inquiry is always performed. No matter the cause, an investigation is always carried out to determine the 'true' reason behind the death. This doesn't apply soely to the showbiz sector. It also applies to the sports world. The latest example would be that of former England batter, Graham Thorpe, who passed away nearly a year ago.
I wrote a piece on his death which you can check out here.
Former England cricketer, Graham Thorpe, "spiralled into depression" after losing his job as a batting coach in 2022, an inquest has heard. He died on the morning of 4 August 2024. His widow, Amanda Thorpe, later said he had taken his own life.
An inquest at Surrey Coroner's Court in Woking on Wednesday heard Thorpe was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2018 and previously tried to take his own life in 2022. An incident involving a leaked video in Australia that year had left him "distraught," the court was told.
Mrs Thorpe said that up until 2020 there were no psychological issues in particular, apart from "a bout of depression" in 2018 which did not affect his job. In a statement to the court, she said her husband "found lockdown and Covid very difficult, very stressful".
While on tour in Australia, there was an "incident involving a video that was taken that had adverse publicity" Thorpe shared a video with some friends which was leaked, and the incident was "blown out of all proportion", leaving Thorpe "distraught," Amanda Thorpe's statement added.
According to reports at the time, the video, filmed after a dismal Ashes series which England lost 4-0, showed Tasmanian police breaking up a drinking session involving both England and Australian players.
Mrs. Thorpe described it as a "horrible" time, and said the later termination of his employment with the England and Wales Cricket Board was a "real shock to Graham," which was the "start of the decline of his mental health."
In a statement, Graham Thorpe's father, Geoff, said the video incident had, "caused catastrophic damage to him" and, "ultimately he lost his job," then quickly "spiralled into depression." Thorpe became "more and more desperate and helpless in the last year of his life," he added.
Reading Geoff Thorpe's statement, the coroner said: "You felt those who were responsible for Graham's safety and care could've done more to intervene." Professor Nick Pierce, the ECB's chief medical officer, said in a statement that after Thorpe's employment ended in February 2022, his private health insurance cover was extended until the May.
In May, the ECB was advised that Thorpe had attempted to take his own life and he explained that, "at no point during Graham's time at the ECB had there been any concern regarding a risk of self-harm or intent to end life."
He added that the ECB healthcare trust was approached about helping to cover the costs of treatment for Thorpe at a hospital and the trustees agreed.
Amanda Thorpe, Graham Thorpe's widow, told Surrey coroner’s court: "The weeks leading up to his death, he told me he doesn’t want to be here any more. He asked me to help him end his life. He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil. Then we get a letter for an appointment (with the medical team) in a month’s time."
“How ill do you have to be? I just wish he could have been kept safe. If you’re not here, there’s no hope.” She said Thorpe had attempted to take his own life in 2022, spending three weeks unconscious in hospital.
"He came back from the tour of Australia in a terrible state — lots of things, the video, the environment, the set-up,” she said.
A video Thorpe had taken emerged, showing that he was told to return to his hotel room at about 06:00 by police in Tasmania after contravening local laws by smoking a cigar indoors during a post-series drinking session with players from both teams. It leaked to the media and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) opened an investigation.
"To be sacked after that — I think it was foreseeable that it would be really really hard on him," Mrs. Thorpe said. "If he hadn’t been on that Tour, then he wouldn’t be dismissed and that was ultimately what he couldn’t deal with."
Referring to Mrs. Thorpe’s statement, the coroner said: “You had been upstairs on the phone and Graham had gone out. You thought he had gone to walk the dog but then you saw the dog. You tried to locate him using your phone but weren’t able to do that. Then you got a call from Geoff telling you, 'He’s gone'."
Graham Thorpe told his community mental health team he had “given up” in the last weeks of life, but was not seen by his NHS psychiatrist for more than four months before his death.
Surrey Coroner’s Court heard that the England cricketing legend’s depression had reached a point whereby he could no longer get out of bed or attend appointments and was openly asking his wife to help him end his life. He was, however, not seen as a "fluctuating" suicide risk.
Thorpe had struck up a rapport with his care co-ordinator, Jessica Harris, which included home visits, following a suicide attempt in 2022 but she left her role in February 2024. He was then last seen by his consultant psychiatrist on 20 March before dying after being struck by a train on 4 August.
Mark McGhee, who is representing the Thorpe family at the inquest, questioned why he didn't receive a home visit in the months leading up to his death, particularly after the family had become increasingly concerned by his mental state and suggested that he was “crying out for face-to-face assessment."
McGhee also produced the notes of conversations between Thorpe’s new care co-ordinator, Katie Johnson, his wife, Amanda and his father, Geoff, after he had missed scheduled appointments.
A "progress note" which followed a missed appointment on 28 June detailed a conversation with Amanda. "Graham has been home [after staying with his father] since last Friday and it has not been good," said the note. "He cannot get out of bed, constant asking [to] help him end his life. He had really tried but he cannot get over what he did. He is so sure nothing is going to work. He has convinced her it’s cruel to go on, he wants to go to Switzerland. She is compassionate towards him, understands how hard it’s been for Graham’s father.”
Johnson also spoke directly with Thorpe on that telephone call. "He said he is not very good, hasn’t been for a while but particularly today," she wrote in her note. "Has given up. Hard to get out of bed, which is why he has not come to his appointment today. He said he is struggling to see the future, feels empty, lost, doesn’t see the point of being here. Feels very low and frustrated. He said he has only been out once in the last month. He has lost everything and lost contact with people. He said he has no immediate plans to act on suicidal thoughts."
The inquest heard on Wednesday how Thorpe was devastated to lose his job as England’s assistant coach following the 2021-22 Ashes series in which he was also mortified by the leak of a video which showed the police breaking up a late-night post-series social.
Thorpe, who had been hit hard by the breakdown of his first marriage in 2001 as well as the Covid-19 lockdowns, was suffering with anxiety, depression, guilt and feelings of low self-worth.
Thorpe’s father and wife had also reported how he was hiding his drinking following previous attempts to curtail alcohol consumption and a visit to Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. Amirthalingham Baheerathan, who had been Thorpe’s consultant psychiatrist at the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust since 2022, said that talk of wanting to go to Switzerland didn't constitute an active suicide plan.
"It is a thought that came to his mind, he shared it with his wife," he said. "He has been in that situation before: he can’t go on, he can’t change the path." He also pointed out that Thorpe had agreed to attend a scheduled appointment. "There were 35 days between that and Graham’s death and during that time Graham wasn’t seen by you, the care co-ordinator or any of your colleagues: In your view was that a reasonable and appropriate response to Graham’s needs?" asked Mr. McGhee.
Dr. Baheerathan replied: "If there is a real emergency, there are other means for the client to contact the crisis team and emergency numbers. In hindsight I could say we could have done an appointment. If we have done an appointment and seen him, we could have assessed the risk. But in my opinion, Katie Johnson had spoken to him on the phone. That is why we decided to give an appointment later on. There was another appointment arranged and Graham agreed to come to the appointment."
In a further call with Thorpe’s care co-ordinator on 19 July, his father Geoff again said that he was still not getting out of bed and wondered if he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A further appointment had been made for 9 August.
In his statement to the coroner’s court, Geoff said that, "those responsible for Graham’s safety and care could have done more to intervene." He also highlighted the impact on Thorpe of losing his mother, Toni, two years earlier.
A cricket fan himself, Dr. Baheerathan said that he thought that he had, "managed to get some rapport" with Thorpe and hadn't initially considered him to be severely depressed in October 2022 following a first suicide attempt that left him unconscious for three weeks and in intensive care. "I felt that he was a kind-hearted gentleman," said Dr Baheerathan. "I was a fan of him. Growing up, from Sri Lanka, I felt he was a legend in cricket. We discussed about various treatment options, also medications. I felt that I need to try my best to help him out from this depressive episode.”
Of the difficulty in keeping the same care around Thorpe, Dr. Baheerathan said: "Unfortunately NHS retaining people is an issue and keeping the same care coordinator is a problem and we need to work at that."
Graham Thorpe was treated with ketamine in the year before his death and repeatedly missed appointments with his doctor despite being at, "high risk of suicide," an inquest has hear
A celebratory, "Day for Thorpey" will be held on the second day of the fifth Test against India at the Oval next month on what would have been his 56th birthday. Amanda and Thorpe’s daughters, Kitty and Emma, are raising money for mental health charity, Mind.
In a nod to the trademark headband Thorpe wore while batting, headbands designed by his wife, Amanda and daughters, Kitty and Emma, will be sold to raise money for mental health charity Mind.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Amanda said: "That day will be very powerful. We want to celebrate him and his memory. His light was so bright. He'll go on."
Kitty added: "Death and grief in general isn't talked about enough, considering it happens to everyone. It surrounds us. When you add the layer of death by suicide, that makes it even more taboo.
"I understand it's difficult to talk about - people don't want to say the wrong thing. That doesn't help tackle the stigma around it. We need to change the way we're addressing the topic. That's why we're working with Mind to do something to help that."
A stylish left-hander, Thorpe is one of only 17 men to reach 100 Test caps for England, scoring 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66. Thorpe famously became the first England batter for 20 years to score a hundred on their Test debut when he reached three figures (114*) against Australia at Trent Bridge (Nottingham) in 1993.
His inquest is scheduled to finish on Friday.
This is truly a sad case. However, due to my own state, I can understand the situation. I, too, have problems with getting out of bed on most days and I have the feeling of hopelessness. I have a lot of depressive episodes. During these episodes, I have dominating thoughts of committing suicide. I'm under the belief that everyone will be better off without me and that I won't be missed. I'm easily replaceable.
Anyway, I believe the efforts were inadequate. More actions should've been done; especially since he attempted suicide once before. Suicide attempts will most likely happen on multiple occasions, not just once.