Finding into death of Parth Dayalal Patel
Deceased
Parth Dayalal Patel
Demographics
23y, male
Date of death
2021-03-10
Finding date
2022-01-17
Cause of death
Asphyxia from helium and plastic bag over head
AI-generated summary
Parth Patel, a 23-year-old international student from India, died by asphyxia from helium inhalation via plastic bag. He had experienced undiagnosed depression characterized by social withdrawal, disengagement from studies, and financial stress, but never sought mental health support. The coroner highlighted the vulnerability of international students to mental health crises, noting cultural, linguistic, and financial barriers to help-seeking. While his mental health appeared to improve in early 2021, he took his own life in mid-March. Key lessons include the need for proactive mental health screening and support services for international students, recognition that apparent recovery does not exclude suicide risk, and ongoing efforts to restrict access to lethal means such as helium balloon kits.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Undiagnosed depression
- International student status with associated cultural and financial stressors
- Social isolation and withdrawal
- Disengagement from university studies
- Lack of help-seeking behaviour for mental health issues
- Easy access to helium as a means of suicide
- Perceived pressures to succeed and please family
Coroner's recommendations
- No new coronial recommendations made; reliance on existing initiatives from previous coronial findings into international student mental health and helium inhalation suicides
- Encouragement to ACCC to proceed with ongoing prevention work to address helium product safety as a matter of urgency
- Focus on suicide prevention initiatives including international student mental health support, expansion of Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement (HOPE), mental health education, and establishment of Suicide Prevention and Response Office in Victoria
Full text
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