Lincoln man sets up mental health fundraiser for ‘one in a million’ girlfriend who died suddenly

A heartbroken 21-year-old Lincoln man has set up a fundraising page in memory of his girlfriend who died suddenly earlier this year.

Jonathan Chardoux is raising money for a mental health charity after revealing 18-year-old Keely Hinsley had fought a long-term, hidden battle with depression.

Her cause of death is to be determined by a coroner at a later date.

Jonathan, who works in the delivery hub in Wickes, first met Keely through a dating website in spring 2015.

After speaking initially for the first few months, the two began regularly meeting up in Scunthorpe where she lived.

Jonathan described her as “the bubbliest, loveliest girl I’d ever met”, but Keely felt that the distance between Lincoln and Scunthorpe was too far for a relationship.

The two ended up being good friends until 18-year-old Keely moved to Lincoln in late November, when Jonathan said her behaviour changed, and she became more affectionate.

Jonathan and Keely eventually decided to start going out on January 3, 2016, tragically just a day before she suddenly died.

However, Jonathan revealed that Keely fought a long-term battle with depression, which she kept hidden from him.

Jonathan said: “I want to help others who struggle with depression, or a family member who may be suffering with the loss of a loved one or even someone who struggles in their day to day life with a form of mental illness.

“With everything I already felt, the pain, grief, shock, I felt more sadness that she had not confided in me about the voices in her head, to let me try help numb the sadness she said she could not escape from.

“Keely had hidden it from me, scared that I would push her away if I found out about her darker thoughts. But how could of I have missed it?”

Jonathan said that Keely had told him for the first time that she loved him the day before she died after staying over for a late New Year party.

He said: “She had already ran to the bottom of the garden to get picked up before I told her that I loved her too. I just hope she heard me say it back. Because I never saw that beautiful girl with that golden heart again.

“While I had passed my driving test, and was excitedly trying to text her the good news, she was gone. I refused to believe it when I found out. The tears flowed, the agony. My heart broke in two.”

“I loved Keely. She was one in a million.

“I kick myself for deleting our lengthy conversations on my phone to free up memory, as now the only way to hear her voice for me now is to go to my messages and replay a recording of her trying to pronounce where I lived. It’s two seconds long, but I’ve played it hundreds of times.

“I know that eventually, time will heal, but Keely is gone. She will never come back.”

Jonathan is taking part in the Lincoln 10k to raise money for the mental health charity Mind.

He has also promised to give up drinking until January 4, the first anniversary of Keely’s death.

Jonathan has raised £435 so far for Mind, and aims to reach at least £1,000.

Click here to visit the fundraising page.