A young man took his own life in a park after breaking up with his girlfriend and losing all of his money after investing it into Bitcoin, an inquest has heard.
Stefano Reale, 23, was found in a wooded area of Wanstead Flats on September 4, 2021. Emergency services attempted to revive him for 20 minutes, reports MyLondon.
The coroner heard that shortly before taking his own life, Mr Reale had sent his ex-girlfriend a photo of a tree, with the words ‘Remember this place’.
Unaware of his intentions, she had responded to say it looked “nice and peaceful”, to which he replied by sending her a photograph of his bag with a teddy bear inside.
He followed this by saying, “I’ve lost everything, good luck," to which she thought he was referencing their recent split. A number of voice notes were also retrieved from his phone which he had sent to his friends, one of which referenced his money problems and involvement with Bitcoin.
In one emotional voice note, read aloud to the court, Mr Reale, originally from Palermo in Italy, said: “I just wanted to say, when I die, donate my organs. I want to help someone else."
In a statement read out in court on behalf of Mr Reale's dad, who was in Italy, he explained he had a video call with his son two days before his death where he seemed "happy" at getting a new job with Amazon.
“He was happy and so was I," the statement continued. "[My son] had paid the rent of the house where he lived and had filled his refrigerator with groceries to eat all week.”
Two days later, a call was made to the London Ambulance Service at 6.26pm from a member of the public, who had found his body.
A black backpack was placed next to the tree, which contained documents confirming his identification. A post-mortem examination found no traces of alcohol or drugs.
Having given a conclusion that Mr Reale had taken his own life with no suspicious circumstances, the coroner expressed the importance of discussing mental health. She said: “It was just so tragic that he was so young and no one knew what he was thinking and didn’t have the opportunity to help him. He didn’t seem to share his thoughts until it was too late.”
