A beautiful 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania track star from New Jersey killed herself Friday by jumping from a Philly parking garage because of the stress of her grades at her Ivy League school, her father told The Post.
“At the end of high school and going to Penn she was the happiest girl on the planet. It was easy for her in high school,” said Madison Holleran’s father, James, 52, at the family’s Allendale home.
“There was a lot more pressure in the classroom at Penn. She wasn’t normal happy Madison. Now she had worries and stress,” the heartbroken father said through tears.
He later said: “My daughter’s stress was self induced, and although we had started her in therapy to address her issues, she hid the severity of those issues from everyone.”
Madison – the middle child of five – shared her suicidal thoughts with her parents in December and was seeing a therapist.
“We knew she needed help. She knew she needed help. She had lost confidence in academics and she also lost confidence in her track abilities,” said James, who encouraged his daughter Friday to make an appointment with a therapist who could prescribe her anti-depressant medication.
“I was worried about her so I texted her that she needed to see the therapist. She said she would,” said James, who works for Dow Chemical.
Madison also left her parents a note as well as gifts for the family on top of the parking garage, James said – but declined to describe the gifts or the contents of the note.
While Madison had discussed transferring away from UPenn with her parents, James didn’t blame the rigorous school for his daughter’s suicide. He said he was sharing the story of his daughter’s death as a cautionary tale for families that found themselves in a similar position.
About an hour before Holleran jumped from the parking garage at about 6:40 p.m. she posted a photograph of the sunset over Rittenhouse Square to her Instagram account.
Philadelphia police said Holleran was taken to Jefferson Hospital and was pronounced dead at 7:17 p.m.
Holleran competed for the UPenn cross-country and track teams and as an Allendale high schooler she won the 800-meter New Jersey state championship.
She had three sisters – ages 26, 20, and 16 – and a 15-year-old brother.
Holleran had happily tweeted less than a month ago when her older sister gave birth to a baby boy.
“Best New Years gift ever… GONNA BE AN AUNT TODAY!!!! HAPPY NYE TO ALL!!!!!