'He became Felix who everyone hated': Mother pens heartbreaking open letter to the bullies who drove her son, 17, to kill himself after he became a target because he was not allowed to play Call of Duty

A grieving mother penned a heartbreaking open letter to the bullies who drove her teenage son to suicide. 

Felix Alexander, 17, died when he stepped in front of a train near his home in Worcester on April 27, after telling his parents he was going to school.

An inquest heard Felix had killed himself after suffering years of bullying.  The torment started when he was just 10 years old. 

Classmates at the £13,000-a-year King's School teased him because he was not allowed to play violent video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Felix Alexander, 17, died when he stepped in front of a train near his home in Worcester on April 27. His mother Lucy (pictured together) has penned an open letter to his bullies

Pictured is Felix (ringed), with his parents Lucy (second left) and Ratan (centre) and sister Charlotte (second right) and Ben (right)

He later became the victim of online trolls. One of the website's he was targeted on was Ask.fm, which has been linked to seven teenage suicides. 

Felix eventually moved to Pershore High School but the bullying continued. 

His devastated mother Lucy, 51, has now written to bullies, teachers and parents, describing the torment he suffered.

She wrote: 'I write this letter not for sympathy, but because there are so many more children like Felix who are struggling.

'His confidence and self-esteem had been eroded over a long period of time by the bullying behaviour he experienced in secondary education.

'It began with unkindness and social isolation and over the years, with the advent of social media, it became cruel and overwhelming.

Felix, pictured, was bullied for seven years

'People who had never even met Felix were abusing him.

'He was however so badly damaged by the abuse, isolation and unkindness he had experienced, that he was unable to see just how many people truly cared for him.'

Mrs Alexander, who is also mother to daughter Charlotte, 22, and son Ben, 21, said she wanted to 'educate the bullies' so they can 'see the effect they have on people'. 

'Teachers need to be aware of the dangers of bullying and I want more help to be available,' she added.  

Flelix was just 10 years old when he started being left out and excluded from social activities because he did not own Call of Duty, Mrs Alexander said.

She wrote: 'He was ten at the time, so why on earth would I let him play an 18-rated game that was full of violence?

'One child even called him a 'p***y' because he wasn't allowed to play it. It was really silly comments like that which started the whole thing.

'It spiralled from there and escalated into people who barely knew him joining in, and then he became Felix who everyone hated.' 

The torment started because he wasn't allowed to play violent video game Call Of Duty, above

Classmates at the £13,000-a-year King's School (pictured) teased him because he was not allowed to play violent video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

By the time he was 14, her son was also being abused online.  

She wrote: 'It was initially via the website Ask.fm and then it escalated with basically every social media platform you could imagine.'

Mrs Alexander said the bullying was 'poisonous' and Felix 'couldn't see a way to be happy'.

Appealing to parents, she said: 'We don't like to think that our children could be responsible for being cruel to another child, but I have been shocked by the "nice" kids who were responsible in part for Felix's anguish.

We don't like to think that our children could be responsible for being cruel to another child, but I have been shocked by the 'nice' kids who were responsible in part for Felix's anguish

Mother Lucy Alexander 

'On several occasions we removed all form of social media from Felix as it was causing so much distress, but that just isolated him further.' 

On the morning Felix died she and husband Ratan, 55, suspected something was wrong as he hadn't arrived at school.   

She wrote: 'It wasn't something we expected or were worried about.

'We thought we were coming to the end of the tunnel, but obviously he couldn't see the light. My other children were devastated to lose their brother.

'It was just horrendous.'

The family are now fundraising for the Place2be charity, which offers mental health counselling to young people.

Mrs Alexander added:'What appealed to me is that they believe in early intervention, which I believe is the key to stopping bullying early.

'I want to raise awareness because we all have a collective responsibility to prevent other young lives being lost.' 

'HE COULDN'T SEE A WAY TO BE HAPPY': LUCY'S OPEN LETTER

'I write this letter not for sympathy, but because there are so many more children like Felix who are struggling.

'His confidence and self-esteem had been eroded over a long period of time by the bullying behaviour he experienced in secondary education.

'It began with unkindness and social isolation and over the years, with the advent of social media, it became cruel and overwhelming.

'People who had never even met Felix were abusing him.

'He was however so badly damaged by the abuse, isolation and unkindness he had experienced, that he was unable to see just how many people truly cared for him.

'I wrote the letter as I want to educate our educators and to the bullies themselves so they can see the effect they have on the people they target.

'Teachers need to be aware of the dangers of bullying and I want more help to be available.

'I’m working with my son’s high school to raise awareness there, in the hope that teachers can receive further training.

'He had been targeted for many, many years. It was generalised cruelty. He was known as the most hated person in the year at school.

'It started with social isolation when he was around ten. He didn’t get invited to parties and wasn’t included in weekend activities.

'Then the online abuse started when he was 14. It was initially via the website Ask.fm and then it escalated with basically every social media platform you could imagine.

'It all started when people kept asking him why he didn’t have Call of Duty for the PlayStation.

'He was ten at the time, so why on earth would I let him play an 18-rated game that was full of violence?

'One child even called him a ‘p***y’ because he wasn’t allowed to play it. It was really silly comments like that which started the whole thing.

'It spiralled from there and escalated into people who barely knew him joining in, and then he became Felix who everyone hated.

'The damage had already been done. He couldn’t see a way to be happy.

'He saw a psychologist when he was ten because he was in a very dark place. The bullying was poisonous.

'He moved from his old school because he was very unhappy there and didn’t get the grades he needed to get into sixth form.

'We don’t like to think that our children could be responsible for being cruel to another child, but I have been shocked by the ‘nice’ kids who were responsible in part for Felix’s anguish.

'On several occasions we removed all form of social media from Felix as it was causing so much distress, but that just isolated him further.

'On the morning Felix died, we suspected something was wrong as we knew he hadn’t got to school. It wasn’t something we expected or were worried about.

'We thought we were coming to the end of the tunnel, but obviously he couldn’t see the light. My other children were devastated to lose their brother.

'It was just horrendous. 

She added: 'I’ve gone back to work and I have superb friends and family who have helped me through it all.

'My friend suggested the charity when Felix died as they help support children in schools who are going through a number of different types of trauma.

'What appealed to me is that they believe in early intervention, which I believe is the key to stopping bullying early.

'I want to raise awareness because we all have a collective responsibility to prevent other young lives being lost.'

Pictured is the final part of the letter from Lucy Alexander following the death of her son