A TRANSGENDER woman who died after falling from her high-rise home has sparked fears that more trans people could face the same fate as they struggle to receive the right support for transitioning genders, an inquest has heard.

Armanih Lewis-Daniel, 24, was found in the car park below when she fell from the seventh floor of her flat in Hatch Grove, Romford on 17 March 2021.

The vulnerable woman dealt with multiple mental health issues including mixed anxiety, depression and emotionally unstable personality disorder. 

She was also on the waiting list for an autism assessment for almost two years and an appointment about her gender identity for seven years, the inquest at Walthamstow Coroner’s Court was told.

According to an expert assigned to examine the case, Dr Duncan Harding said the delay in accessing specialist treatment intensified Armanih’s mental distress. 

She told her probation worker that the delay in her autism assessment and treatment for gender dysphoria was having a negative effect on her.

An NHS England report to the Coroner stated that those seen for a first appointment in September 2023 by a Gender Dysphoria Clinic had on average, been referred seven years previously. 

Two months before, Armanih’s death there were four incidents that would have made officials in the NHS aware that she was spiralling with her mental health. 

Mr Daniel Cooper, the family’s representative, said that the long waiting times for an autism assessment and gender treatment deprived Armanih from accessing the medical assistance she needed so acutely.

In the months leading up to Armanih’s death, the public bodies tasked with protecting her deflected responsibility and failed to recognise her deteriorating behaviour as symptomatic of a relapse in her mental health difficulties.

Dr Harding said on the balance of probabilities, Armanih’s death could have been avoided had she been referred back to the Mental Health Access team on any one of these occasions.

Angela Lewis-Campbell, Armanih’s mother, who is being supported by INQUEST – a charity that helps bereaved families – said  that her daughter was “kind-hearted, protective and fiercely loving”. 

“She knew what it was like to be bullied, and, because of this, she did everything within her power to ensure that others did not have to feel the way she did,” she added. 

“She felt strong and stable until at some point she simply could not take it anymore and she snapped.” 

Ms Lewis-Campbell went on to blast the police’s conduct, stating that racism and transphobia characterised their interactions with her daughter, adding: “The police are trying to get away with this because they know they made mistakes.”

Coroner Nadia Persaud, who wrote the Prevention of Future Death report, said: “The inquest also heard that there is little local support available to patients who are waiting for assessment and treatment by Gender Identity Clinics. 

“There was a lack of clarity as to who is responsible for the wellbeing of the patient during the waiting period, for any distress caused by the gender dysphoria. There was a lack of consensus as to whether it would be the referrer or the GID clinic itself.

“Local mental health services have very little specialist knowledge as to how best to support a person suffering from GID. 5. Those in attendance at the inquest were unclear.”

The inquest concluded that Armanih fell to death after jumping from a high window, but it could not be concluded that she had the intent to commit suicide.