Suicide Prevention Day: Morecambe family speak out

Stevie Wiles, 33, a well known joiner, was found dead at his home in Morecambe on August 2, last year.

Stevie’s family, including mum Julie, dad Tony and sisters Louisa and Kayleigh are still struggling to come teams with his sudden death.

Mum Julie, 56, who works at Greggs on Westgate, said: “What we have found hard is Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day which we now have to spend without him.

“He was troubled and we didn’t know how much when he went out that night.”

Dad Tony, 55, a tug driver at Heysham Port said: “It was the suddenness of it all, he wasn’t ill in bed. You could have prepared yourself for it.

“It’s the not saying goodbye as well, there was no note, nothing.

“That is why the suicide rate amongst young men is high because they won’t get help or talk about it.

“If another young man is reading this, get help and don’t be ashamed.”

Sister Louisa said: “I was the last person to see him that night and he was fine.

“I was his older sibling and he told me everything. The message should be talk and tell.

“Tell somebody, anybody, and don’t suffer on your own. On the night he died, we had a heart to heart and he left in good spirits.

“He could have talked to me and I could have got him some help but he was that far gone in his own emotions.”

Julie and her family have been supported by CRUSE, the bereavement charity, and have drawn comfort from the fact that the person on the other end of the line knows exactly what they are going through.

Julie said: “I got a lot of comfort from what the lady on the helpline said. It’s the why, why is the biggest question.

“I was told I’d joined a club which no-one ever wants to join.

“It’s what makes a person tick like that. We are just learning to live life without him, we will take tiny steps.

“The helpline has helped. You can go on and on thinking ‘I could have done more’ or ‘should we have said that’ but nothing would have changed what happened.

“If anyone is thinking about committing suicide, my advice would be don’t leave anyone feeling like this, the devastation it leaves behind is unbearable for families.

“If they have a good think before that dramatic act and think what they are going to leave behind.

“Seek help, get help, it doesn’t matter from who.

“Please, please, from the Wiles family, talk to someone.”

The aim of World Suicide Prevention Day held on September 10 this year is to raise awareness around the globe so that suicide can be prevented.

For more information about Lancashire’s Wellbeing and Mental Health Helpline, please visit

www.lancs-mentalhealthhelpline.nhs.uk or call them on 0800 915 4640.

Contact CRUSE Bereavement Care on 0808 808 1677 or visit the website at www.cruse.org.uk.

For more on this story see The Visitor September 13.