It’s every mum’s
Clare Haughey and her husband Paul settled down to enjoy a beer in a busy city centre bar and soak up some of the carnival atmosphere at the annual Merchant City Festival in Glasgow.
The couple planned to catch up with their older son, Sean, later, but with their youngest son, Michael, at home in Rutherglen and their middle one, Charlie, a pharmacology student, on holiday in Amsterdam with friends, they were child-free and ready to relax. Then they got the call.
Michael had just texted to ask if he could eat the left-over Chinese takeaway in the fridge.
The mental health minister picked up her mobile presuming this would be him asking how long he should microwave the food for.
But before she could speak, Michael told his mother that the police were at the door.
“Even then, the alarm bells didn’t go off because I have a really good relationship with the local cops and if there’s any kind of major incident in Rutherglen, they tend to let me know,” said Clare.
“They asked where we were and said they wanted to speak to me — now.
“I asked what was wrong. I think I asked that several times, before they said they wouldn’t tell me on the phone. When they said that, I immediately panicked and asked, ‘Is it my son?’ They said it was and that they were coming to meet me.
“Waiting on them was probably one of the longest 20 to 25 minutes of my life. My oldest son was in town, so I phoned him in a panic saying, something has happened to Charlie, but I didn’t know what.
“I said I would call him back when I knew but about five minutes later, he messaged me back saying ‘Michael’s in the police car with them’.
“So, at that point, you just start bargaining with yourself…let it just be he’s been in an accident…he’s been arrested…he’s unconscious…he’s in hospital… he’s in trouble…all of those things, any of those things, just let it be that, let it be that.
“Honestly, I didn’t even let it cross my mind that he could be dead, I wouldn’t let it, it was something that I couldn’t even consider, I wasn’t going to go there...not yet.
“I had literally just had a sip of my beer when I got that call and Paul and I just left, just got up from the table and left our drinks.
“When the police arrived, they got us in the car and almost immediately told us that Charlie was dead and at that point my world fell apart.
“I could see Paul hunched over, just broken, in pieces. Michael was in the middle of the back seat of the police car and he just pulled his T-shirt up over his face and cried.
“It was all a daze then but we went and met
Sean and his girlfriend who were in town so we could tell them face to face and then we had to get in a cab and get home.
“The police didn’t really know anything at that stage other than
Charlie was dead and we had to tell family without really knowing any details. I called my mum and dad and got them to
It’s an emotion I never felt, I never felt anger. I’m not angry, I’m sad