Mother spreads suicide awareness with poem

TIPPERARY mother Teresa Williams, who lost her daughter through suicide almost two years ago, is on a mission to prevent young people from ending their lives.

Her poem Only One You will soon be posted on Teen-Line Ireland’s website (www.teenline.ie), which was established a year ago to help reduce the number of young people who take their own lives every year.

Calls to Teen-Line’s helpline — the number is 1800 833634 — have increased by 800% since the phone number was launched in July 2006.

Ms Williams, from Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, said she was only emerging from the heartbreaking experience of losing a child.

Her only daughter, Mary, 21, committed suicide in March 2006.

While Ms Williams has managed to put her life back on track, Mary is always on her mind.

Ms Williams said her daughter always gave and never wanted anything in return.

“She was a model daughter,” she said.

“I know she would want me to carry on. Mary worked so hard on this earth and I believe now she is doing even more.”

Ms Williams said most suicides are in the 17 to 24 age bracket, and she believes suicide awareness programmes need to be introduced when children are 12 years old to maximise their effectiveness.

“Students starting secondary school need to know about issues like relationships, bullying and exam pressure at an earlier age so that when problems do arise at a later stage they are equipped to deal with them,” she said.

“Even if teenagers have the best parents in the world they are the last people in the world that they want to listen to. It is just their age — rebellion kicks in then.”

Ms Williams believes young people need to know the effect suicide has on family and friends.

“If they knew the pain it caused, they would think twice,” she said.

In September, Ms Williams succeeded in getting several radio stations to remove a No 1 hit song from their stations when she moved her protest against the playing of the song to the gates of Leinster House.

Sean Kingston’s Irish chart-topper Beautiful Girls mentions the word “suicide” 16 times and Ms Williams was concerned it could be sending a very negative message to vulnerable teenagers, particularly those leaving nightclubs in the early hours feeling lonely and depressed.

Ms Williams has also been in contact with local TDs, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Dr Jimmy Devins, and Fine Gael TD and president of the Irish Association of Suicidology, Dan Neville.

Her aim has been to bring pressure to bear on Health Minister Mary Harney and the Government to focus on suicide and allocate more resources to suicide prevention.

Mr Williams said she had managed to “let Mary go now”.

“I have given her back to God,” she said.

“That is what people have to learn to do when they lose someone. That is the true meaning of charity.”