Ava says Dada Dada every time the phone rings, waiting for a call that’ll never come
Mother reveals how son took his own life after begging for medical help
STEPHEN BYRNE’S daughter Ava picks up any mobile phone she sees, saying ‘Dada, Dada’, waiting for a call that will never come.
The father-of-one died by suicide last month, two days before his daughter’s second birthday, after being told – according to his mother – by a local hospital that he was not in its catchment area.
Stephen’s family have made the heartrending decision to come out and call for faster access to treatment for people with mental-health issues, so that his death will not be just another statistic.
In the days before Stephen died, he made at least three attempts to end his life. He was seen by the family’s GP and staff at one of Dublin’s largest hospitals.
His mother, who went to the hospital with him, heard doctors say he was not in
‘I used to see Stephen playing with Eva, he’d do anything for her’
the right catchment area, so they could only arrange for him to go to a health clinic the following week.
This came two years after Stephen’s family believed that he had been placed on a list for assessment.
A spokeswoman for Beaumont Hospital said it could not comment on a patient’s case, but said the hospital did not refuse any patient in need of treatment.
The last time Stephen’s mother Patricia heard his voice was when he phoned to say he loved her and loved his little daughter Ava on Tuesday, January 19. He hung up before she could respond and never answered his phone again.
Patricia said her son, who had mild Asperger syndrome and had attended St Laurence O’Toole Special School on Dublin’s northside as a boy, had become more sensitive to distress about two years ago.
A GP they visited together at that time, a locum, not their regular doctor, said he would refer him to local mental-health services.
In spite of Patricia’s concerns, there were no signs over Christmas that January would bring such tragedy. Stephen lived with his mother, while his partner and little Ava lived with her parents, but the two families were very close.
His cousin Natasha showed the Irish Mail on Sunday a photograph of a pink Dora the Explorer chair that Stephen had carved for his daughter’s Christmas present.
She said: ‘I used to see Stephen playing with Ava, down on the floor. He’d do anything for her.
‘The day he died was the week of her birthday. I just know he was sick to do that, he wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her.’
On Wednesday, January 13, Stephen was arrested after crashing his car into a pole. He had been drinking and his family say that as he hadn’t even learned to drive yet, this was a cry for help.
That evening, Patricia was told he was in Ballymun Garda Station. At the station, she heard he had been very distressed, but was sleeping after a doctor’s visit.
The following day, Stephen was charged in court with criminal damage, including to a mattress in the cell, which he had tried to use to harm himself. It also emerged that he had thrown himself against the cell wall or door, causing injuries which required assessment at a hospital. He was then released.
Early on Friday, January 15, Patricia took him to the family GP.
After Stephen had explained the previous few days, the GP gave him a letter of referral for Beaumont’s emergency department.
Stephen sat in the hospital waiting room holding his head in his hands and rocking, saying: ‘It won’t stop, it won’t stop.’ He repeatedly asked Patricia who would carry his coffin.
One doctor talked to him for about an hour, before fetching someone else, she said. But she was surprised they didn’t admit him.
Instead, she said, Stephen was told he was not from the correct catchment area and that a doctor would fax the Ballymun healthcare facility to make an appointment the following Tuesday – four days later for him.
St Vincent’s hospital in nearby Fairview was mentioned but Patricia was told it only operated on referrals. She was given a drug and alcohol counselling number.
‘The doctor said Stephen had been drinking all week. I said, “Yes, to put the voices out of his head.” But they said the drink put the voices into his head. She felt that her opinion ‘didn’t count’.
Patricia added: ‘Stephen said to them, “If I don’t get help I’ll be dead in a week.” He said that.’
The grieving mother explained that as a mother of 10 she knows problems when she sees them. She knew Stephen drank sometimes and that he had taken cocaine on occasion but nothing she saw led her to believe addiction was the start of his problems.
On Tuesday, January 19, Stephen and his mother met with his supervisor at a work-training placement.
Patricia said: ‘The meeting had gone well. I left him to pick up my other son, I thought all was okay.
‘When I was on the bus he called and said, “I’ve been talking to the baby on the phone. Will you tell her I’m really sorry, I really do love her. I love all of yous. I can’t do this any more.” And he hung up.’
When he hadn’t returned home by evening, she reported him missing. The next day, Stephen’s uncles found him but he was already dead.
One month later, the family still has not heard from the mentalhealth services. Patricia said: ‘I’ve spoken to so many families these last few weeks, I never realised how bad our mental-health services are. Why would no-one talk to me? Why wasn’t he seen?’
A spokeswoman said: ‘Beaumont hospital does not refuse any patient in need of treatment. When a patient presents, staff follow hospital guidelines to take their contact details.’ She said staff could ask for support from the HSE’s psychiatric liaison services.
A spokeswoman for lobby group Mental Health Reform said: ‘We are aware of unevenness of crisis support services across different catchment areas, which can affect people with mental-health difficulties seeking help.’
A HSE spokeswoman said emergency referrals to mental-health services were seen on the same day and in this area that was at St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview.
She said no-one had been waiting longer than a year for an appointment in this area. Details of how often hospitals contact community services with urgent referrals were not kept, she said.
According to the CSO, 459 people died by suicide in 2014. In 2012 of 507 people who died in this way, 413 were male.
‘Why would no one talk to me? Why was
my son not seen?’