THE father of an Oswestry teenager who died in student halls has paid tribute to his ‘amazing’ daughter after her inquest last week.
Angel Kendrick, 19, died in March this year after she took painkillers prescribed to her by her GP after she had been out drinking with Liverpool John Moores University student friends.
An inquest into her death was carried out in Liverpool last week, with coroner Kate Wilson stating she was unable to conclude whether Angel had taken her own life.
Her father, Nick Popyk, said that his daughter was loved by all and was thankful that he was able to play a part in her life.
“She was amazing – she touched everyone who knew her,” said Nick, who urged people to talk if they were suffering from mental health issues.
“That’s the hard thing since it happened, the outpouring of messages on social media and people we know, the people at her funeral, she was loved by everyone.
“Everyone describes her the same way and it’s a shame that she might not have seen that herself.
“We heard at the inquest that she was struggling in social groups and people wouldn’t have thought of Angel like that.
“Things like being worried about what to wear – they said she was taking a spare pair of clothes in case someone said something to her.
“But she never showed that, it shows people that don’t realise.
“Our abiding memory of Angel is the girl she was and the person she allowed us to get to know, because I missed out on some years of her life, for whatever reason.
“You could have a wide circle of friends to the point that you could have two together who would be at the different ends of the scale.
“If anything could remind people of Angel, it’s that as she lived life to the full and it’s shame we won’t get to see the rest of that.”
Nick said that Angel’s memory will carry on through her siblings and her family, and admitted he was delighted he got to know his daughter.
He said: “We are massively thankful of the time that we had to together, all of us as a family and it’s important that her siblings get to know who she was.
“I can only thank her for being back in my life as I missed out on crucial years, and there’s not a day I won’t regret that but I’m more thankful that we built a relationship how we did.
“She was just a good-hearted girl, and everyone came into contact with her loved her and she loved them.”
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