‘He kept everything bottled up inside’

LIZ COOPER visits her son’s grave every day and wonders if he would still be alive today had he got the help he so desperately needed.

Clive, an only child, was 20 years old when he took his life just four months ago.

Liz, from Finglas West in Dublin, rang RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday to highlight the fact that the kind of support her son needed was not available.

She knew her son was depressed and urged him to go for counselling but he refused, saying he could not sit in front of a stranger and discuss his problems.

“He was a very deep person and kept everything bottled up inside,” she said.

“There should be somewhere where young people like him can drop in and feel comfortable talking about themselves.

“I knew he was depressed because a lot of his friends had committed suicide over the years. When his last friend committed suicide in September he just withdrew into himself.”

He talked about himself to Liz’s sister, but he never really explained to anyone how he was feeling.

“I knew a lot of it was to do with his friends that had passed on,” said Liz.

She said three of his friends had committed suicide over the years and the first such death happened when Clive was 14 years old.

Liz believed Clive became so withdrawn that he did not realise how his friend’s deaths had impacted on their families.

“There was so much going on in his head he could not think about things like that.”

Liz said her son was found dead in a nearby field. It was her sister who later identified his body after it was taken to Blanchardstown Hospital.

Liz felt if there was somewhere where Clive and his friends could feel comfortable discussing their problems, they might all be alive today.

“I just cannot cope with his death. I am still expecting to hear his key in the door. Even though I stand at his graveside everyday, I just can’t grasp the fact that he is not here.”