A BEDALE woman still affected by the suicide of her teenage brother has teamed up with a York funeral director to try and prevent further devastating deaths.
Alex Sutcliffe was just 14 and living in Hull when she returned home to find her 15-year-old brother Richard had taken his own life.
Four decades on, Alex is still affected by his death and has contributed to a short film aimed at preventing people taking their own lives.
She worked with funeral director Hayley Owen on the five-minute video 'Preventable' which urges viewers to do complete a short online training course with the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA).
This helps the public to play their part in recognising the signs that someone is seriously contemplating suicide.
Alex, who now lives near Bedale, is the manager of York’s and North Yorkshire County Council’s Major Incident Response Team (MIRT), helping people cope with traumatic events including road accidents and suicide.
She explains how the trauma of her brother's death still affects her today.
She said: “I always sleep with the light and television on.
"If I was to cure myself of that, would that mean I have let go of Richard completely?
"I don’t want to do that,” added Alex, who also runs a York group for people bereaved by suicide.
Alex pictured with her late brother Richard as children
Alex and Richard as children
She says that suicide is preventable and hopes as many people as possible will watch the film and complete the training.
She said “Any one of us can encounter someone at risk of suicide.”
Hayley, an independent funeral director for five years, based on York’s Boroughbridge Road, has arranged many funerals for people who have died by suicide.
Also a qualified embalmer, Hayley was filmed for Preventable in her home, mortuary and funeral parlour and wants its message to make a difference.
“Every time I get a call about a suicide, I hope it’s the last one,” she said.
“I feel for all families, but especially those bereaved by suicide.”
Mark Willis of York Mind, hoped Preventable’s message would have an impact, saying a suicide prevention course was 'surely one of the most worthwhile things one can do in life'.
The Preventable video can be viewed here and the online training can be accessed here
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