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A young woman who was left scarred by a devastating trauma tells how bereavement counsellors helped cope with crippling grief

d he didn’t want ut for two days e and one day nd – and I eeded to sleep work, I kept ake sure he was esponse. I just sleeping.” her shift, check on her was staying at ut his dad was ere, I had a mach that right. hing in the same but then I ’s room – which t him – and I e.” ner had taken an overdose. She said: “I don’t know if he actually intended to kill himself or whether it was a cry for help and he thought I would come back and find him in time to get help.

“But I didn’t find him in time – and he was just 19 when he died.”

In the wake of her boyfriend’s death, Rebecca dropped out of college, cut herself off from friends and became severely depressed.

She said: “At first, I blamed myself. I kept thinking, ‘If only I had gone round quicker, then I might have been able to help him.’

“It felt like no one around me could possibly understand what I was going through.

“I stopped going out and instead took to drinking every night to try to forget.”

Rebecca said she will always be grateful to her mum for helping her turn her life around.

She added: “My mum got me a puppy – a little Patterdale terrier called Bailey – which gave me something good to focus on, and also gave me a new best friend.

“I had three really good friends throughout this rough time, but I lost a lot of my friends.

“I had to take Bailey for walks, so having a reason to get outdoors and a bit of exercise was good, too.”

Rebecca’s mum also contacted the charity Child Bereavement UK, who despite their name support all family members when a baby or young person of any age dies or is dying.

They also support children who are facing bereavement.

Patrons of the charity include former Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand, who helped his three young children through the heartache of losing their mum Rebecca to breast cancer at the age of just 34.

Other patrons include Mary Berry, whose 19-year-old son was killed in a car accident, and Prince William, who was just 15 when he lost his mother, Princess Diana.

The charity put Rebecca in touch with a bereavement counsellor.

She said: “I needed someone to talk to who wasn’t connected to me but who understood what I was going through. I’ll always be grateful for the help that saved my life.”