William and Kate pledge to join fight to cut suicide rate
THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday vowed to help efforts to cut suicide rates after meeting a man who wanted to kill himself – and the passer- by who saved him.
William and Kate want to focus attention on the biggest killer of men aged 20 to 45 and ensure that those contemplating suicide receive better care.
Jonny Benjamin, 29, was talked out of throwing himself off London’s Waterloo Bridge in 2008 by 33- year- old fitness trainer Neil Laybourn, of Redhill, Surrey.
They have since become firm friends and mental health campaigners.
William said after meeting them at St Thomas’ hospital in London: “Someone told me five people a day try to kill themselves. I was just blown away by the statistics.
“For both of us, the mental health piece has got lots of aspects. It’s such a big issue that we need to do something about it.
“We feel it’s been raised higher up the ladder. It’s suddenly bubbling just under the surface.
“Now we need to get up to the next level, to the surface.” He plans to focus on men’s suicides while Prince Harry concentrates on mental health issues facing military veterans.
Kate, who wore a green Erdem coat, spends much of her time highlighting the help needed by children affected by family breakdown, domestic violence and addiction.
She said: “We see through the work that we do with addiction, homelessness and knife crime that a lot of it stems back to childhood.” They later visited the Maytree centre in north London, Britain’s only charity providing non- medical residential care for the suicidal.
A spokesman said: “We were thrilled to see them.”