There has been an outpouring of tributes for a much-loved University of Birmingham student who tragically took his own life a day after his exam results were released.
Well-known Phil Moyo, a third-year medical student, was told he failed a resit - and therefore needed to withdraw from his course - the day before he died.
No one knew that the joyful 22-year-old who is remembered as a "ray of sunshine", was struggling ahead of his sudden death. His inquest, which ruled he died from suicide, confirmed there were no previous mental health concerns.
In a eulogy read to his 'huge' funeral attended by more than a hundred mourners, Phil's mum had said: "His love, kindness, and maturity were a constant source of joy to us as parents. Phil’s passing has left an indescribable void in my heart. He was an incredible young man with boundless potential, a bright future, and a heart full of love and responsibility.
He made us so proud, and I don’t know how I will ever recover from losing him."
Close friend Kiah Wright, a fellow UoB medical student, also shared heartfelt words as she opened up about Phil with the permission of his family. "He was such a big part of his family, such a presence and he was very, very close with his mum."
Phil, an aspiring cardiovascular surgeon, had been resitting an exam which he had failed by just 'one or two per cent', Kiah said. "He saw everyone else enjoying their time and he's having to be in Birmingham, missing his family, away from home because he was revising every day. Resists aren't nice," she said.
On July 16 last year, students were given the results of the resit via email. "He failed it by less than five per cent again," she recalled. "He got the email that comes through - it's a bright yellow box with red writing that said he's failed and 'will be required to exit the course'. If you fail a resit in medicine, you need to leave the course."
Such was the positivity of his character, "none of us had a clue he was struggling”, Kiah explained. "He kept it all to himself.
Retrospectively, you think of conversations and wonder, 'was he trying to say something...'"
Source: Birmingham Live UK