Outpouring of love for University of Birmingham medical student who died a day after exam results

Birmingham Live

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There has been an outpouring of tributes for a much-loved University of Birmingham student who tragically took his own life a day after his exam results were released.

Well-known Phil Moyo, a third-year medical student from Leicester, was told he failed a resit – and therefore needed to withdraw from his course – the day before he died.

No one knew that the joyful 22-year-old who is remembered as a “ray of sunshine”, was struggling ahead of his sudden death on Thursday, July 17 last year. His inquest, which ruled he died from suicide, confirmed there were no previous mental health concerns.

In a eulogy read to his ‘huge’ funeral attended by more than a hundred mourners, Phil’s mum had said: “His love, kindness, and maturity were a constant source of joy to us as parents. Phil’s passing has left an indescribable void in my heart.

“He was an incredible young man with boundless potential, a bright future, and a heart full of love and responsibility. He made us so proud, and I don’t know how I will ever recover from losing him.”

Close friend Kiah Wright, a fellow UoB medical student, shared the heartfelt words as she opened up about Phil with the permission of his family.

“He was such a big part of the family, such a presence and he was very, very close with his mum,” she said.

“He was so kind and put everybody else before himself. He was a very funny guy, he was good at everything – whether it was studying, medicine, making friends – he was an amazing singer and worshipper too.

“He was so loud, you definitely heard Phil before you’d see him! You couldn’t be around him and not smile.”

His family, friends, church ‘family’ and colleagues have been left devastated by his death, with dozens leaving condolence messages as part of an online memory book.

One described him as the “biggest ray of sunshine in my life”, adding: “His laugh, smile and energy were so infectious that you couldn’t help but laugh with him.”

Even those who were ‘not close’ to Phil spoke highly of his character, with one praising him as an “incredibly charismatic, cheerful individual”. Another, who only met him once, wrote: “I was blessed to have met Phil at work. I’m sad that I only ever had one shift with him but he was such a character.

“Lit up a room, brought so much positivity into the building and was a joy to be around. His sense of humour and just smile brought happiness to so many people.”

Such was the positivity of his character, “none of us had a clue” he was struggling, Kiah explained.

“He kept it all to himself. Retrospectively, you think of conversations and wonder, ‘was he trying to say something?’

“As friends, we used to check in with each other when we were stressed or worried about exams. We used to have a saying like ‘we won’t come and die for this degree.’

“We didn’t mean it literally, we meant we won’t let it ruin our lives, or let it kill us through burn-out. When things were difficult, we’d say ‘come on let’s get some food or go see a concert, we’ve not come to die for this’.”

Phil, an aspiring cardiovascular surgeon, had been resitting an exam which he had failed by just ‘one or two per cent’, Kiah said.

“He saw everyone else enjoying their time and he’s having to be in Birmingham, missing his family, away from home because he was revising every day. Resists aren’t nice,” she said.

On the Wednesday, July 16, students were given the results of the resit via email.

“He failed it by less than five per cent again,” she recalled. “He got the email that comes through – it’s a bright yellow box with red writing that said he’s failed and ‘will be required to exit the course.’

“If you fail a resit in medicine, you need to leave the course.”

Asked her advice for others who may be struggling with their mental health or University, she encouraged them to reach out – including to Black Minds Matter for ‘culturally appropriate’ support.

She added: “There’s always options to talk to people about how you feel, there’s no shame in accessing support.”

“There’s no shame in feeling disappointed, I think talking about it and getting help is much better than not being here because there’s a lot of people who he’s left behind.

“I think he should have talked to someone, given himself another chance. He was always there for everyone else, he always had time for them.

“There’s always someone who loves somebody, it’s worth being here. With Uni, I would say it’s not the be all and end all, there’s always something else you can do.”

A spokesperson at the University of Birmingham said: “Staff and students at Birmingham were deeply saddened to learn of Phil’s death.

“The loss of Phil from our community was and remains deeply felt, and our thoughts and sympathies are with his family and friends.”