‘Cheeky chappy’ straight A student, 15, killed himself ‘after becoming stressed over his GCSEs and worrying he would forget everything’

A BRAINY straight A student killed himself after becoming stressed over his GCSEs and panicking he would forget everything.

Daniel Long, 15, was discovered unresponsive by his heartbroken mum Emma Oliver, who had rushed upstairs when she heard a loud bang coming from his bedroom.

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The teenager was still alive and Emma, 43, desperately tried to save him with CPR while a neighbour called 999.

Daniel was rushed to hospital where he was put on life support but was pronounced brain dead and tragically passed away two days later.

Emma, of Leeds, West Yorks, has now revealed her heartbreak to try and prevent more tragic deaths like Daniel's.

She said her son's problems started when he became obsessed with revising for his GCSEs in January this year – spending four hours a night studying but still panicking that he would forget everything.

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Concerned Emma had spoken to staff at Bruntcliffe Academy in Morley, Leeds, where Daniel, who wanted to be a lawyer, was a student.

She said: "Daniel was a really cheeky chap and happy all the time. He’d love being with his mates and his family, too.

"Then, in January, he started fretting about his GCSEs, telling me he was worried he wouldn’t remember it all.

"I said they weren’t until June, so he had ages, and he would be fine.

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“But, after a couple of days of him being more withdrawn and quiet, and revising all the time, I rang the school and told a receptionist I was concerned. They said they would talk to him.”

A teacher spoke to the straight A student about his worries, but Daniel's concerns got worse and his school friends noticed he had become withdrawn.

Emma said: "I noticed he became really clingy to me. Normally he’d be out with friends or in his room, but he would sit with me some evenings, when he wasn’t revising, and just put his head on my shoulder.

“He was revising at the table all the time. I’d say to him, ‘Why don’t you have a break?’ But he’d just shout at me, ‘You don’t understand, I won’t remember it'."

As Daniel's obsession with studying grew, he began going to school in half-term for extra tuition and after he broke down, Emma got him a maths tutor.

She said: "It’s so tragic, as he had his first session on the Wednesday and took his own life on the Sunday."

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Emma had been cooking a Sunday roast on February 26 when she went up to Daniel's room and discovered him on the brink of death.

After his death, Emma and Daniel's dad Andy Long decided to donate his organs and his lungs, kidneys, stomach, pancreas and liver have now all had recipients.

An inquest at Wakefield Coroner’s Court on September 1 recorded a verdict of suicide.

For his funeral on March 27, Daniel’s body was driven from his family home, past his primary and secondary schools, before going onto his funeral at Rawdon Crematorium.

Emma said: "His mates would call him ‘Danny Long Legs’ because he was so tall. Even his 6ft 4in coffin was too short for him.

"We didn’t want it to be a morbid funeral. It needed to be fun and happy, just like Daniel was. So, we played the Star Wars theme tune as we entered for the service, and then sang the ‘Only Fools and Horses’ and ‘Benidorm’ theme tunes.

"There were well over 200 people there – it was incredible.”

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She is now struggling to come to terms with her son being gone but has started a suicide awareness group on Facebook called ‘Team Daniel’.

The mum wants to make sure no one else loses their child in the same devastating way.

She said: "Losing Daniel is heartbreaking. When I wake up in the morning, I tell myself he has gone to school early, or in the evening that he is staying out at a friend’s, as I can’t face the truth, that he has gone.

“My heart knows he has, but my brain won’t believe it. He was 15-years-old and we lost him because of the pressure of his exams. I don’t blame the school, I know the pressures they were under, but I feel let down.”

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