Drugs made things worse

Pixie Nimmo prefers to remember the happy times with her son Ryan, when they would laugh and play games together - not the troubled young man who took his own life. It ended tragically last March when the 22-year-old Canterbury Christ Church University student hanged himself from a tree near their home - leaving a note which read: “I am sorry for everything I have done. Every day is bad. I do not want to live any more. I do not want to hurt anyone any more.” But his suicide was the culmination of years of mental health problems which were aggravated by his drinking and drug-taking. “He began taking drugs because he thought it helped his depression but, of course, it only made things worse,” said former nurse Pixie, who manages the Cancer Research shop in Canterbury. “Yet he had everything to live for. He was extremely bright and studying to be a surgical operating theatre practitioner, which was what he wanted.” But, disturbingly, she later found he had researched websites on how to hang himself. Pixie, 54, blames Ryan’s downfall on “getting in with the wrong crowd” and at his inquest criticised mental health services for not detaining him in a secure unit for treatment where he would have been safe. Instead, having been sectioned following previous attempts to take his life, he was discharged by doctors. A week later, he was dead. Now Pixie is focusing on keeping his memory alive and creating a lasting legacy, which she hopes will help other young people in emotional turmoil. She has started fundraising for Ryan’s Promise Project which will provide a minibus which can visit various locations in the area offering a drop-in service where anyone with emotional issues can have an informal chat and cup of tea with a trained counsellor. She said: “Ryan always helped people and believed that working for the NHS and the community was a privilege and an honour. “The aim is to provide help and support with advice to vulnerable people and to prevent and reduce the risk of suicide. Too many people are taking their lives and this has to stop.” To support her appeal, go to www.gofundme.com/ ryans-promise-project.