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Suicide dad thought he was dying of cancer

Katie Storey
25/ 3/2008

A FORMER bus driver killed himself because he mistakingly thought he had cancer. Derek Brian Taylor, 53, had watched his father lose a battle against cancer and didn’t want his own family suffer the same fate.

In an attempt to alleviate his pain and prevent his children witnessing his deterioration, Mr Taylor took an overdose of prescription drugs. But a post-mortem examination revealed no medical evidence to confirm he had the killer disease.

His 33-year-old son Colin Taylor told the Rochdale Observer the family were unaware that their father hadn’t been medically diagnosed.

He said: "To hear he didn’t have cancer was a major shock."

The inquest was told Mr Taylor, an ex-Rossendale Transport driver of Holland Rise, College Bank, lived in severe pain and was unwilling to face a spinal operation to correct his crushed vertebrae, which had a 50 per cent change of leaving him wheelchair bound.

He also confided in his daughter that he believed his poor health was due to prostate cancer which he believed

developed from polyps with which he had been diagnosed. However the inquest heard that his prostate was ‘firm and nodular’ and there was no evidence he had cancer.

Mr Taylor described his father as a very outgoing, determined person with a love of karaoke and a passion for driving.

However, his life was turned around when his marriage ended in divorce and he was forced to leave the job he loved due to an old back injury.

Mr Taylor described his dad’s trademark leather jacket and quiffed hairstyle as his pride and joy and knew that he wouldn’t want to undergo painful chemotherapy sessions that would not only cause a loss to his hair, but also his larger-than-life identity.

He was found on the morning of 16 September 2007 lying on his bed with a photograph of his four children.

Mr Taylor said: "When I found him I would have never ever thought he would have done what he did.

"When I first saw him I was dismayed to say the least.

"He was definitely not that kind of man. He preached to us when we were children that it was a coward’s way out.

"He was the last person I’d ever consider doing it like that."

Paramedics later found a note which Mr Taylor had written outlining his insurance policies and details of his intended funeral arrangements.

A pathologist’s report confirmed that Mr Taylor had taken a combination of morphine, cyclizine and co-proxamol mixed with alcohol, which had enhanced the drugs individual effects and resulted in his death.

Mr Taylor added: "Dad was always full of life. When we found out he was ill everything just stopped dead.

"Up to the age of 50 he would have done anything, bungee jumping, parachuting – he was a bit of a daredevil."

"I knew he was a poorly man and he didn’t want to go for an operation, he would have never wanted to end up in a wheelchair. There was no reason he couldn’t speak to the family, he just needed to talk to somebody."

Coroner Simon Nelson gave a narrative verdict stating: "He had been told he was unable to work and plagued by constant pain. He took his life while depressed.

"I don’t think he acted at all in a way that would have ended his life if he hadn’t been so depressed."