‘Ryan was so generous’
MUM’S TRIBUTE TO HER “LARGER THAN LIFE” SON AFTER TRAGIC SUICIDE
A MUM has paid tribute to her “bright and generous” son after he tragically took his own life.
Dad of two Ryan James Wheelhouse had built up a successful construction business from the age of 17, when he left Greenhead College in Huddersfield to pursue his dream.
At one point he had been earning around £10,000 a week and thought nothing of putting £1,000 behind a bar so that all his friends could enjoy a drink on him.
But Ryan’s business fell into difficulties and he died last November at the age of 35 following a battle with mental health problems.
An inquest into his death heard that Ryan had lost the business and had problems with cocaine and alcohol as well as relationship issues.
In a statement, his mum Tracy paid tribute to Ryan, calling him an intelligent and generous person who had helped build some of Huddersfield’s most beautiful buildings.
She said Huddersfield-born Ryan was a “live in the moment” person who had spent his money on friends, cars, and holidays.
However, he had developed a cocaine habit and had started to drink more. She said Ryan was a “larger than life character” but had struggled to accept himself.
Tracy added that Ryan was a “loving and tender man” who had been “hit hard by failure” and would dwell on things.
The last four years had been “hit and miss” for Ryan’s work and he ended up losing the business he had spent 18 years building up.
It was said that he had owed a lot of money to other people.
She said Ryan had gone from being a successful person to living in a garage and with no business.
His death had devastated his family but they had found some comfort from him being an organ donor who had saved two people’s lives.
The inquest heard from a former girlfriend who found Ryan in her garage in Longwood, Huddersfield, where he had been living.
She managed to start CPR before he was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
But he could not be saved and died on November 25, 2023.
Assistant coroner Angela Brocklehurst read out phone messages that Ryan had sent to a former partner in which he said he had “absolutely nothing” to live for.
In the message, Ryan said that “sometimes people’s battles” are in their own heads and which “overrule
everything that is directly in front of them.”
Ms Brocklehurst said Ryan had suffered relationship and addiction problems and had declined mental health services.
The coroner concluded that Ryan had died as a result of suicide.