Ex-student sues counsellor after trying to kill himself

LEXINGTON, Va. – A university and its counsellor are being sued for $12 million each by a former student who says they didn’t do enough to stop his suicide attempts.

The Roanoke Times reports that a lawsuit filed this week by Kionte Burnette accuses Washington and Lee University and counsellor Rallie Snowden of negligence.

It says that after Burnette told Snowden he planned to jump off a bridge, the counsellor told him to attend his classes and football practice and then spend the night at the campus health centre.

Snowden followed up several times that day by text and phone, making Burnette promise not to hurt himself, but he did so anyway, trying twice to kill himself.

The lawsuit says he should have been escorted to an emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation.

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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com