Strong widow on a mission to tackle epidemic of suicide

It is virtually impossible for those of us whose lives have followed a relatively smooth path to imagine the despair suffered by a woman who lost her entire family in a car crash caused by a suicidal taxi-driver in England.

Nor is it easy to perceive the strength and resolve of the young widow, Elber Twomey, who embarked on a one-woman campaign to highlight the need for greater suicide risk awareness in Ireland. The praise heaped on Mrs Twomey yesterday by Cork City coroner Myra Cullinane at the inquest into the death of her husband Con, a national teacher who died almost 10 months after suffering injuries in that awful event in Cornwall, was richly deserved.

Though she also lost her 16-month-old son and her unborn baby girl in that horrendous incident on July 6, 2012, Mrs Twomey would be the first to play down her own importance in terms of the ongoing suicide awareness campaign. An insightful and dignified woman, she is loath to accept tributes in recognition of her selfless work. Her deep sensitivity was seen when she reached out the hand of friendship to the widow of the taxi-driver who deliberately rammed the family car.

In a significant development resulting from the tragedy which befell the family as they drove to catch a ferry home after a holiday in Britain, police in the UK have changed their operating procedures for dealing with the pursuit of suicidal drivers. In a sparkling example of the sense of social responsibility which imbues this seemingly ordinary 38-year-old from the village of Meelin in North Cork, Mrs Twomey has dedicated her life to ensuring gardaí are also specially trained to deal with suicidal drivers so no other family suffers such a devastating loss.

Thanks to her unstinting courage, there are welcome signs that the relevant authorities here are now sitting up and taking note of what she has to say. Besides meeting Transport Minister Leo Varadkar and writing to Alan Shatter before he resigned as justice minister, Mrs Twomey has also won the backing of joint Oireachtas committees on justice and transport for her campaign to secure special training for gardaí to deal with suicide, a message she will personally deliver to Garda management at a meeting next week.

The onus of responsibility now falls on Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald. Duty-bound to respond positively to the campaign in the public interest, Ms Fitzgerald has a rare opportunity to put her stamp on meaningful national policy to tackle the scourge of suicide.

The urgent need for action to combat this crisis, which has reached frightening levels due to the era of austerity, was underlined by a report this year showing Ireland has one of Europe’s highest suicide rates, particularly among young men and women. In the absence of realistic policies to address this appalling scenario, the situation will only gets worse.

From unspeakable tragedy, one woman has found the strength to speak out. By doing so, she has effectively turned a spotlight on the lack of properly resourced strategies to combat suicide on a countrywide level. Successive governments have paid little more than lip service to dealing with Ireland’s suicide problem that is now an epidemic.

Where they have failed, however, Elber Twomey has succeeded in concentrating the popular mind and raising public awareness of the need to deal with the nation’s crisis of suicide before it gets worse.