EXCLUSIVE
A 12-year-old schoolgirl who took her own life after months of relentless bullying on Snapchat poured out her heart in gut-wrenching videos just before her death.
Ella Catley-Crawford died in hospital on Saturday a week after her attempted suicide, following nine months of misery at the hands of students who catfished her.
The bullying began after Ella, from Manly in Brisbane, took up an academic scholarship at Lourdes Hill College, an elite private girls school in February this year.
Her ‘hyper-vigilant’ mum Julie Crawford, 55, moved her to public school Redlands College after just one term, but says the damage had already been done.
‘She was immediately happier, and the new school was great, but the bullies still got to her via the apps,’ Ms Crawford told Daily Mail .
In the lead up to her death, Ella shared her daily struggles through multiple emotional TikTok posts on a secret account she had kept hidden.
Posting a selfie of a single tear on her cheek, Ella’s heartbreaking captions revealed her pain, but with each one, she added: ‘Other people have it worse.’
‘No-one really likes me but other people have it worse,’ she wrote just three days before she tried to take her own life.
‘Literally struggling so much but other people have it worse,’ she added. ‘Can barely get out of bed but other people have it worse.
‘Not really eating but other people have it worse. Crying nearly every day, but other people have it worse.’
With other tragic posts referring to losing friendships, her appearance and self-harm, friends have since flooded the comment sections.
‘The signs we all missed – I’m so sorry Ella you didn’t deserve any of this,’ commented one friend.
‘This is making me tear up, the signs were there,’ added another.
Ella’s final post was at 3am on the morning her mother found her lifeless body at home.
‘I have nothing to post, #Imissyou,’ it read.
The 12-year-old’s torment came as no surprise to her devoted mum who had given Ella her old phone for Christmas to entertain her on the bus to and from school.
She had banned her from using apps like Tiktok and Snapchat, but when Ella started Year Seven, she saw her daughter was glued to her phone screen.
‘I thought she was just texting her new friends at first,’ she said.
‘I knew they had a Year Seven group chat, but it was Snapchat.
‘I made her delete it straight away even though she told me she was being safe.
‘I don’t know how but she made another account and hid it from me.’
Despite Ms Crawford’s repeated attempts to stamp out Ella’s social media use, the bullying quickly escalated and regularly left her daughter in tears.
Then in March Ms Crawford, an HR manager, received a call from the school alleging concerns had been raised that Ella, who was then 11, had been bullying other students online.
‘I told them “I don’t think so”, that they had it wrong and they investigated it further,’ she said.
Days later, three Year Seven girls were suspended from Lourdes College for bullying Ella online.
The school never gave Ms Crawford the details of their findings, but the damage was already done, her mum said.
‘I don’t know exactly what it was all about,’ she added.
‘People had pretended to be people they were not, one girl pretended to be a boy and messages Ella sent to them were shared around to others.
‘Friends started to pull away from her and she was uninvited to a birthday party with some of the kids saying they needed a break, that it was too much, that she was too much.’
Parents of students at Lourdes Hill College were emailed by principal Kay Gleeson on Tuesday alerting them to Ella’s death, calling it ‘devastating news’.
She added: ‘We have a zero-tolerance policy against bullying.
”Our students’ wellbeing remains our highest priority, and we are committed to providing a caring, safe and supportive environment.
‘The next few weeks will be particularly difficult, and members of the community may have different responses to this tragedy.
‘We understand our community will have many questions about this. However, out of respect to those affected, I ask that we avoid any speculation or discussion.’
Ms Crawford moved her ‘bright and quirky,’ daughter to Redlands College at the end of the first term in April.
But although Ella was instantly happier and making new friends, she couldn’t escape the online abuse which followed her.
‘Ella was so down I took her to the doctors, and she was diagnosed with depression and on medication,’ her mother told Daily Mail .
‘But I made sure I was always around and that we had things to do to keep her busy.’
Ms Crawford says that when her daughter was distracted with things to look forward to, her ‘best friend and love of her life,’ was her former happy self.
But as soon as she was left with her phone, things quickly changed.
‘Some days in the holidays she wouldn’t get out of bed,’ said her mum.
‘I just hoped it wouldn’t get worse but I never expected her to kill herself.’
Ms Crawford found her daughter apparently lifeless on Sunday, October 27 and began CPR while waiting for paramedics.
Ella was rushed to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and spent a week on life support before doctors confirmed she had no brain activity.
Queensland Police have Ella’s phone and iPad and are now investigating her death.
On Monday, Andrew Johnson, principal at Redlands College, sent a text message to parents of Year Seven students with details of a special counselling service.
Students in Ella’s year were told of her death on the same day.
‘The college will not make any formal announcements to other year levels but will invite parents to make the decision about if and when they share this news with their son or daughter,’ Mr Johnson added.
Ella’s heartbroken mum says without her, she has nothing left, so will now dedicate herself to raising awareness in the hope she can help others.
Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral costs, time off work to grieve and to facilitate more awareness.
‘Social media bullying is real,’ the fundraising appeal adds.
‘If you ask if we are angry—yes, we are. If you ask if we are sad—absolutely. And if you ask if the system let her down—it did.
‘This catastrophic reality has changed our family’s history forever.
‘Social media and online presence pose real dangers, and despite our efforts to keep our children safe, technology can become an addictive lifeline, especially when they feel isolated.’
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36.