‘My son was taken to hospital to be sectioned. Six days later he was dead’
LIAM King had struggled with his mental health for seven years after the death of his father. There were phases where things would get worse, but they would also get better again.
One of those phases was at the end of April. But this time things didn’t get better.
Over the course of two to three weeks police were called around five times to look for him following concerns for his welfare. Twice in that time friend Lisa-Marie Norris talked him down off a bridge.
On the second occasion Lisa said she and police officers took Liam to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Llantrisant, to be sectioned.
“I remember feeling a sense of relief: ‘We are finally going to do something,’” Lisa said. But Liam spent just two hours at the mental health unit before he messaged Lisa to say he was on his way home. Six days later, on May 3, she found him dead.
“When I got home and had a message to say he was on his way home I thought I could not believe this. When I left I said to them: ‘Either you keep him in or he kills himself.’” Lisa said.
Lisa explained that on the morning when Liam’s body was found he didn’t show up for work as a window cleaner. By 10pm on that Wednesday, Lisa received a phone call from Liam’s boss to check if she had heard from him.
When she said she hadn’t she left to go to Liam’s house in Porth. She didn’t get an answer and peered through the door, where she could see him. She said leading up to that point it did look as though things had taken a turn for the better.
Liam, 33, had started to talk more positively over that weekend and had been out for his usual Tuesday evening playing pool.
Lisa said: “I honestly think if they had kept him in [hospital] that night he would still be here.” She is sharing what happened, with the permission of Liam’s family, in the hope that they can prevent it from happening to anyone else and to ensure there is an investigation into the care that he received.
Liam’s mother, Suzanne Samuel, described how her son’s depression started seven years ago, when his father died. She said: “He has not been right since his dad died. His dad had a brain aneurysm on the way to work. He was on life support and we had to turn him off. But we had no support after that. He was not right after that. I would tell him he needed to see the doctor and try counselling. He said: ‘I don’t want to take tablets.’ He thought there was nothing there to help him.”
When Suzanne, from Tonyrefail, was told that Liam had been taken to the crisis team she said she was worried but relieved. The next day, when he was home and she spoke to him, he told her that the staff had told him he “can’t cope with his emotions” and for him to have antidepressants. Suzanne doesn’t know if he was prescribed any.
She added: “How can they assess someone in an hour or two when that someone doesn’t want to talk about it?”
Suzanne explained that up until his passing every time an incident happened where Liam attempted to take his own life he had told someone what he was going to do. On the occasion he died he didn’t tell anyone.
“He had left bowls of food around the house for his dog. He had taken off his pool presentation top and folded it and put it away,” she said.
Suzanne has been told by the coroner that police found notes at Liam’s address but at this point she doesn’t know what they said.
Suzanne added: “I spoke to him on Tuesday night and he sounded quite happy. He said he had his pool presentation and he had been looking forward to that. He said he had to go because someone was ringing him and I said to him: ‘You sound happy tonight’ and he said: ‘I am, love you.’
“He was such a lovely boy. So sensitive and quiet – he only said something if there was something to say. He was just lovely.
“I have three children – my eldest son used to say: ‘He’s your golden child.’ He was always Mammy’s boy.
“On my birthday he would come from work – he always had a bunch of flowers for me. ‘Happy birthday, Mam, love you.’ That is the last thing he said to me was ‘love you.’”
Suzanne said that a few years ago one of Liam’s friends who was helping him through his depression also took their own life. Liam was devastated as he had no idea his friend was also suffering. She said: “I can understand [the NHS] have not got the resources – they don’t have enough money. They haven’t got the staff, but there should be more there for those people. You can’t turn people away for them to then kill themselves. I realise it is not their fault but there should be more.”
A funeral for Liam will be held in Penrhys tomorrow, where he is to be buried alongside his father. Liam is to be buried in his denim jacket, of which Lisa used to tell him jokingly: “We’ll bury you in that denim jacket.”
Lisa added that Liam used to have a pool table in his living-room which they are hoping to donate to Paddy’s in Tonypandy, where a memorial plaque will be placed in his honour.
A spokesman for Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB said: “As appropriate, and to ensure we understand the facts of this case, the health board has begun a review into the care that was provided to Liam. Our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time.”
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story there are ways to access support.The Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123 and you can also contact them through their website.