SHARING the final moments of his daughter’s short life with the world was undoubtedly the most agonising and heart-wrenching decision Adrian Derbyshire has had to make.

But while the painful memory of losing his ‘beautiful and bubbly’ daughter Julia at such a young age has not become any easier with time, he now hopes to help others who are suffering in silence at the hands of bullies.

Adrian bravely released the photos on Wednesday, March 8, on what would have been Julia’s 18th birthday.

“I took the pictures and I buried them.

“I always knew there would be a point where I may have to release them but I haven’t thought about them for 16 months,” said 42-year-old Adrian who lives in Great Sankey.

“It was a horrific week for myself, my family and Julia’s friends building up to Julia’s 18th birthday.

“I wasn’t going out with Julia on her birthday having champagne and celebrating.

“I was taking flowers to her grave. I knew something needed to be done.

“Bullying is not getting any better. It’s only getting worse.

“It was about shocking people.

“People have seen many pictures of Julia in her prom dress.

“She is a beautiful, stunning, lovely, smart and bubbly person.

“I wanted families to sit down at the dinner table and talk about what was going on. I felt physically sick.

“It was the hardest decision I have had to make.”

But the outpouring of support has reaffirmed to Adrian that he made the right decision.

He has so far received 10,000 messages from around the world, 900 emails and has been in contact with a chief representative from the United Nations.

“The response tells us how much of a problem it is,” said the two-time Paralympic gold medal winner.

“If it wasn’t a problem and it was a one-off then people would not be replying.

“It’s a tragedy but it’s rife and it’s everywhere in the world.”

Julia was born in Warrington but moved to America at the age of four along with her dad, mum and elder sister.

When Julia was nine, Adrian moved back to Warrington following the breakdown of his marriage.

He stayed in constant contact with Julia and she would often visit in the school holidays.

It was during her teenage years when Julia was living in Missouri that she first started to struggle.

Adrian said: “It all started when Julia was 12.

“She approached her best friend and said ‘I’m not sure yet but I think I like girls’.

“She was just exploring her sexuality and wanted to share it with her friend.

“But her friend told all the school and it started there.

“She was spat on, there was name calling. It was physical as well as psychological.

“It escalated and Julia started self-harming to cope with the bullies.

“But she couldn’t get away with it as she was being bullied in her own bedroom because of the internet.”

Adrian was heartbroken when he discovered what had happened and brought Julia back to Warrington.

“By this point she had just turned 14 and she came over very damaged,” he said.

“The first thing I did was show her unconditional love.”

With Adrian’s unwavering support, Julia’s confidence started to grow.

She attended Penketh High School and Sixth Form and had dreams of attending Salford University to study political journalism.

Julia would often accompany Adrian as part of his #InspireBelieveSucceed campaign and had recently started working at Starbucks in Golden Square Shopping Centre.

“Everything was going well as far as I was concerned,” said Adrian.

“What I didn’t realise was that she was still contacting the people in America who caused all of these mental health issues.

“I think the reason why she did that was because she had gained a lot of confidence in herself and she wanted to speak to them and get them to like her for who she was.

“No-one likes to be hated.

“As a 15-year-old girl she hated to be hated.

“We gave her the confidence to go back to the haters to stick up for herself and others.

“It was too much too soon.

“I did not have long enough and if we had a couple more years she would have got through this.”

In October 2015, Adrian and Julia shared a pizza and watched a film together.

But the next morning Adrian discovered the 16-year-old had collapsed in the living room after trying to take her own life.

Despite a desperate fight to save her by giving her CPR until the ambulance arrived, she died five days later in hospital.

It later came to light that Julia had been leading a double life with hidden telephones and a false identity as a member of website groups which promoted teenage self-harming and suicide.

“When you are bullied children lose faith quickly,” he said.

“Not faith in God, but faith in themselves.

“Faith in schools and faith in humanity and faith in their parents.

“There are kids who are getting bullied and they are sitting next to their parents at the dinner table with the iPad and being bullied.

“I found kids lost faith very quickly and it spiralled into mental health issues.

“They are isolated, depressed, they have social anxiety and then have thoughts about hurting themselves.

“It seems to come naturally as the next way out.

“No parent, family or friend should ever go through the devastation and loss I have – we all have.

“This story of a beautiful young woman who had given up on herself and life due to others needs to be heard.”

ACCORDING to the charity PAPYRUS, suicide is the biggest killer of young people under 35 in the UK.

If you need help and advice there are trusted people you can talk to.

No-one has to go through bullying alone.

Telling someone can give many people the confidence to face the situation and seek help.

Campaigner Adrian Derbyshire said: “All you need to do is communicate.

“That’s the first thing to do.

“Haters want you to have no self-esteem and hate yourself. Don’t isolate yourself.

“Communicate – there is help out there.”

HOPELineUK is a confidential support and advice service for young people under the age of 35 who may be having thoughts of suicide.

Call on 0800 068 41 41, text on 07786 209697 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org to speak to a suicide prevention advisor who is part of PAPYRUS.

Childline also offers a free phone service for young people who need advice or support.

It’s confidential so you don’t have to give your name to the advisor.

Call 0800 1111.

Reports about hate crime can be made online at cheshire.police.uk or

crimestoppers-uk.org, by phoning 101, or if the situation is urgent dialling 999.

For more information about The Adrian Derbyshire Campaign visit adrianderbyshire.co.uk.