Exclusive:'My daughter was allowed to walk off hospital ward and almost jumped to her death - I demand answers,' says Sheffield mum
Lara was a trailblazer shaping policy at age 15 - now, she is 150 miles from home and has “never felt so isolated”
A Sheffield mother wants answers over why her daughter was allowed to leap to her near death from a Sheffield hospital.
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On January 4, 2026 - on what she describes as “the darkest day of her life” - Lara Ferguson, aged 27, walked off from two-to-one mental health supervision on an A&E ward, climbed a multi-storey building on hospital grounds - and jumped.
She survived, but shattered nearly every bone in her lower body.
Nine months later, she is a wheelchair user, is permanently catheterised, lives with vision loss - and is a resident at a Clacton-Upon-Sea hospital, 150 miles from home.
Lara’s family say they are yet to receive any answers from mental health specialists at Sheffield University Partnership Hospital NHS Trust (SHPU) over how Lara was allowed to walk off and hurt herself so catastrophically while in their care.
Lara and her family are now calling for health services to bring her closer to Sheffield - and for accountability from the trust.
Trailblazer
"She's done wonderful things,” said mum Alison Ferguson of her daughter Lara. “Magnificent things.”
“To say she is a shining star for the future who wants to do wonderful things is an understatement."
Even before scoring all A*s at her A-levels, Lara was an advisor for the Royal College of Psychiatrists at age 15.
Her CV includes studying Psychology at one of the top schools in the field at the University of Bath, meeting the Royal Family at age 18 to advocate mental health causes, helping create the groundbreaking Not Every Disability Is Visible campaign, and an invitation to study at Harvard.
Years in hospital
But all through her trailblazing life, Lara struggled with self harm, anorexia and paranoia,
She has a 10-year history in psychiatric hospitals across the UK, which her mum Alison says is strewn with failures by NHS services, including forced sectioning, patronising explanations, multiple escapes from wards, going years without a diagnosis for autism and ADHD, and oversights that allowed Lara to harm herself in care while often miles from her family.
But it culminated in January 2026, with Lara in the care of SHPU’s psychiatric intensive care unit, Endcliffe Ward, at the Northern General.
She was under two-to-one observations, meaning there were two people watching her at any one time.
The incident
On January 3, Lara self harmed while on Endcliffe Ward and was taken to A&E.
She was kept in a bay until the next day, where she reportedly did not have her medication.
Her mum believes there is a discrepancy between what ‘hands on’ tactics carers are allowed to use to restrain patients when not on Endcliffe Ward ward - a discrepancy that may have made them hesitate and stop what happened next.
On January 4, Lara walked away from her two-to-one observers.
She said they did nothing but follow her as he left the ward, climbed a building - and jumped.
Her injuries were so severe she required an air ambulance just to transport her to same hospital’s A&E department. She spent months on a trauma ward.
“My accident happened when on two-to-one observations at A&E,” Lara told The Star.
“The staff let me walk off knowing full well what I was going to do.”
Five hours from home
Miraculously, Lara survived her fall - but her injuries mean her care requirements are more complex than ever.
SHPU would later explain to Alison and her family that Lara’s new placement - Dunnock View Hospital, in Essex, 150 miles away - was the “best possible care available for her needs”.
Lara feels it is more accurate to say the private hospital was the only place that agreed.
“I’m hundreds of miles away from friends and family,” said Lara.
“I have never felt so isolated.
“They say this is the only place to receive specialist care when in reality it was the only place that accepted me. I’m stuck on arms length observations with everything from me getting dressed to me toileting is being watched.
“I’m very lucky to be alive. But I still live with my life changing injuries on a daily basis. I’m in a wheelchair and require a catheter - it’s a constant reminder of what was the darkest day of my life.”
Accountability
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Now, Alison wants answers.
Nearly nine months on from Lara’s fall, the family say they have received nothing to explain how it was allowed to happen.
And as they fight to help Lara feel loved and supported after her “darkest day”, they are separated by a 10-hour round trip to a hospital in Essex where their daughter says she is deeply unhappy.
Lara and her family hope she can be brought home closer to Sheffield - and that SHPU publishes a serious incident report they feel should have come out months ago.
“No one has been held accountable for what happened,” said Lara.
“I feel there is no sense of justice. I’m hurt that people don’t seem to be taking it seriously when my life has changed forever.”
SHPU’s response
The Star contacted Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust for comment.
A spokesperson said: “We take concerns raised by patients and families very seriously. Patient confidentiality is paramount and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on an individual’s care.
“Our priority is to ensure people receive safe, clinically appropriate care that meets their individual needs, as close to home as possible. Where specialist care is required elsewhere, arrangements are kept under regular review.”
Call the Samaritans on 116 123