Jessica Monks, from Medmenham, jumped in front of train at Twyford after years of struggling with epileptic seizures, inquest hears

The devastated parents of 18-year-old Jessica Monks, from Medmenham, have now criticised medical experts for leaving them to cope with their daughter's ailments without any guidance.

The teenager, who planned to study law at university, was seen by witnesses on the railway platform in Twyford before jumping down on to the tracks and into the path of an oncoming train on January 24.

At the age of 12, Jessica was diagnosed with epilepsy and would suffer seizures at least once or twice a month before she was prescribed Zonisamide to help treat the convulsions in January 2013.

Shortly before Christmas in 2014 her parents noticed a change in her mood.

And, on January 9 this year, Jessica took an overdose of her prescription drug mixed with paracetamol in what doctors say she described as a “cry for help”.

Jessica's mum Susan said: "As parents we felt out of our depth when we came home because we did not have a leaflet or phone number to call, there was no follow-up appointment made.

"We did not know what to do, what to talk to Jessica about or how to handle it all.

"If someone is admitted for an overdose, whether this is a cry for help or a threat to life, there needs to be some kind of support for families to know how to cope with it.”

At the time of her death, friends paid tribute to Jessica saying she was a "sweet angel".

Her parents said they were left to cope with Jessica's low mood on their own, which developed into psychotic episodes in which she claimed "external agencies" were interrupting her thought patterns.

Coroner Peter Bedford heard that on the day of her death, Jessica went with her family to a football match in Henley-on-Thames and asked to be dropped off in the town to have a coffee.

Her father, Steven, agreed to pick her up 20 minutes later but she was not there when he arrived.

At around 11:36am, Jessica boarded a train to Twyford. Once on the railway platform she was seen stepping onto the tracks, and into the path of an oncoming train which was travelling at 80mph.

A witness told police they had seen her step onto the railway but looked away as the train hurtled towards her.

Recording a narrative verdict, the coroner said: "The evidence presents a young lady, an accomplished lady, who had a misfortune of being diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy at a relatively young age.

"I can only surmise how difficult this made her day-to-day life.

"She said she was feeling a change in mood in a time prior to her changing her dosage from a once daily to twice daily pill, although the level of the dose remained the same.

"There is no evidence to suggest anything that could have or might have been done differently to prevent what happened that day.”

He added: "Evidence of any link between the drug she was taking and suicide is inconclusive.”

Speaking after the inquest, Jessica's parents said: “She was very intelligent and friendly, and did very well in her A levels.

"She wanted to be a lawyer and had been accepted into university to study law.

"She had recently got herself a part-time position at a solicitor's office."

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