A 21-year-old pharmaceutical student took her own life by jumping off a bridge hours after she was wrongly told that she failed an exam she actually passed. Mared Thomas Foulkes received an email from Cardiff University in the UK stating that she’d failed the exam, leading her to believe that she wouldn’t be able to continue in the program. What the email failed to mention was that she’d passed a retake of that exam, BBC News reports.
- The test result was later updated to pass. However, by the time the error from the university was correct, it was too late and Foulkes had already jumped off a bridge. Her body was discovered shortly after, with North Wales Coroner Katie Sutherland determining the cause of death to be suicide.
- Foulkes believed her career in pharmaceuticals wasn’t going to happen. The email from the school stated that Foulkes had received a failing grade of 39% when in reality, she passed with a 62% during a retake on April 24. The 39% grade was from an initial exam held on March 26.
- Cardiff University expressed sympathy but admitted no wrongdoing. In a statement made following Foulkes’ death, the school said: “Whilst we believe we acted within university regulations, we fully accept that lessons can and should be learned. Changes are already being considered and we will cooperate fully with the coroner’s verdict.”
- Foulkes’ parents are heartbroken over the loss of their daughter. “We are left with memories in photograph albums, memories of her kindness and other fine qualities, of her gestures and all that she gave to our family, her brother and her friends,” they said. “Certainties are no longer part of our lives, we cry easily and often. Our tears are uncontrollable and exhausting when unprompted memories remind us we are totally bereft. Parents should not have to drive by their daughter’s grave on their way to and from work. We are learning to live without Mared but the task is heartbreaking and we remain very poor students.”
