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A mother says her 15-year-old daughter took her own life because of an allergy to WiFi.

 

A mother says her daughter killed herself because of an allergy to WiFi.

The 15-year-old British teen was found dead in June, and an inquest into her death heard this week that her mother believed she was struggling with a reaction to WiFi technology at school.

Debra Fry said her daughter Jenny suffered from tiredness, headaches and bladder problems when she was around wireless routers.

The condition, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome (EHS) had affected Jenny for three years, her mother said.

Jenny Fry was 15 when she died.

At home, the Wifi router had been removed, but Debra Fry said Jenny’s school hadn’t taken her illness seriously and the teenager had received detention for moving to classrooms that didn’t affect her as badly to complete her work.

“I took lots of information into school to show the head teacher, Simon Duffy, but he said there was equally the same information available claiming Wi-Fi was safe,” The Sun reports that she told the inquest.

“I also had a heated exchange with teachers telling them Jenny was allergic to Wi-Fi and that it made no sense making her take detentions in rooms that were making her ill.

“The least they could do was allow her to take them in rooms where she felt able to concentrate, but they wouldn’t listen. I fully believe Jenny did not intend to take her own life. I think she was frustrated with school,” she said.

After her death, friends made a tribute page on Facebook.

“She would not see a doctor but was seeing a counsellor at school who was helping her. She had not made any suggestions she was thinking of suicide and I believe it was a cry for help.”

The headmaster at Jenny’s school, Simon Duffy, said the school’s WiFi equipment complied with safety regulations.

“Jenny’s safety at school was just as important as anyone else’s. Just like many other public spaces, Chipping Norton School does have Wi-Fi installed to enable use to operate effectively.

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“The governors are content that the installed equipment complies with the relevant regulations and will ensure this continues to be the case,” he said.

Debra Fry said she believed that Jenny’s actions had been a cry for help.

The coroner, Darren Salter, found that “It can’t be demonstrated to the required standard of proof that it is certain she intended to take her own life”.

Jenny’s parents are campaigning for better awareness of the problems caused by EHS, which does not have recognition as a medical illness with set symptoms.

Dr Jill Meara, Director of Public Health England’s  Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, told The Telegraph that: “Public Health England is aware that some people report that they have symptoms that are brought on or made worse by exposure to electro-magnetic fields (EMF), so-called electrical sensitivity.

“The overall scientific evidence does not support the suggestion that such exposure causes acute symptoms or that some people are able to detect radiofrequency fields. Nevertheless effective treatments need to be found for these symptoms.”

The World Health Orgnaisation says there’s no one set of symptoms or determined cause for EHS.

“The symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity. Whatever its cause, EHS can be a disabling problem for the affected individual.

“EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem,” the WHO’s fact sheet on the condition says.

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit Beyond Blue.