8.20pm Everyone in the room looked at the suicide letter on the screen. It had been written by an Australian girl called Samantha Simpson (Sammy), several pictures taken from social networking media sites that Genny had managed to find were also on the screen. In one picture she was cuddling a baby Koala and smiling and in another picture she was sitting on the beach smiling, she looked beautiful and happy. Next to her pictures was a single picture of her lying dead, a picture taken of her as she had been found in Livingston Ward. The contrast was sickening. Before the letter had been found in the pocket of her jeans she had been referred to as Victim 4. This beautiful happy looking young lady was someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, someone’s relative – now, Victim 4. The Letter The first time I saw you at Sidney International Airport, you were reading War and Peace by Tolstoy and seemed to be enjoying it. I had read the book the year before and had initially found it hard to get into but I stuck with it and found myself sailing through the 1,440 pages. I don’t remember who spoke first but I do remember smiling at you and you putting the book down and smiling at me. That day seems so long ago now baby and still I think of it often. We were too ships waiting to board two different planes in the night. You were going to Thailand and I was on the last leg of a 360 travel package. I remember during our conversation you asking me... read more
The Tenth Person Shane Nelson read once that thousands of children under the age of 10 were depressed. He asked his mother why this was and she said it was because they didn’t think of anyone else but themselves. That these children were being raised not to care about anyone but just what they could get from everyone and when they couldn’t get something they became depressed. She said in her day she had one doll and a few colouring books when she was his age and she was happy with her lot. Shane wasn’t sure if he was depressed, he knew he got things his brothers and sisters didn’t get but he was unhappy. His father gave him everything and the rest of the family nothing. He knew his brothers and sisters hated him and his mother was always scared. He was torn, he loved his mother but he also loved his father. He had tried to hate his father for his siblings’ sake but found he couldn’t. His home was a time-bomb and he hated living there. The only thing that made him happy now was talking to Jessy James 6 online. On The Day Of The Suicide Pact Shane had tried to get away from his brothers and sisters earlier but for some reason they kept watching him. They made him go on the roof with them and they shared their chicken and chips with him – something they had never done in the past. In the past they usually relegated him to wherever they were not, it didn’t really matter where; he was ‘Daddy’s favourite’ and... read more
When I was faced with death I didn’t really want to die! “I used to cut my arms with a dirty razor blade because I hoped that I would get an infection and die. One day I ended up in hospital with septicaemia and nearly died. The funny thing was when I was faced with the possibility of death, I didn’t want to die. My parents contacted TTS and a counsellor came to see me in the hospital. It was weird; it was a bit like in the Matrix movie where Neo was told to choose a pill. I was told to choose life over death and that in order for me to get over my own problems I should try and help other people. My counsellor took me to the children’s cancer unit in the hospital and showed me some children who had various stages of cancer. Suddenly, my trying to kill myself because my boyfriend had dumped me seemed so pathetic and incomprehensible. My TTS counsellor kept in touch with me for weeks, she checked that I was going to school and spoke to my parents about any concerns for me they might have. She still calls me and still makes sure that I focus on my dreams and work towards them. I want to become a scientist and help people with cancer get better. I go to the cancer ward every week and I love talking to the children there and taking them on trips with the hospital staff. I love that they are fighters and want to live and I thank God every day for... read more
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Singing Sensation Terry J. King had millions in the bank, millions of fans and a million reasons to live but he chose to die! Terry J. King, TJK as he was known to his fans, was exhausted. He had just returned from a tour which had seen his band performing in sell-out venues all over North and South America. His group K-A-Y 3 consisted of Melvin Andrews and Simon Young – three eighteen year old boys who had been friends since they were at primary school together in South London. K-A-Y 3 was the brainchild of Terry’s mum, Maya, who had seen the potential of the boys years ago when they had come together to do a five minute musical slot for a school play – they had performed during the interlude of Romeo and Juliet the musical. Maya King, once a singer herself who had shot to fame with her breakthrough hip hop song, ‘Girls Are Doing It Too’ years ago, saw something in her son’s group that reminded her of herself. As a Black woman trying to make it in a predominately White, male industry it had been hard for her but she didn’t give up, she kept plugging her stuff and one thing led to another which saw her opening for A- list performers. Her career had been short lived but whilst it lived it had exposed her to first class air travel, stays at prestigious hotels and the consumption of food and wine that she could barely pronounce. After her career had died she knew one thing – having had those things and losing... read more
Why did ten young people wake up one morning and convene at a Central London Hospital to take part in a suicide pact? What possessed them to do this? What possessed them to drink a concoction of stolen hospital drugs mixed with chemicals, the mixture so strong that it dissolved their innards in minutes? They died in so much pain – their dead faces were literally gargoyle in agony as blood oozed out of their orifices. From back blurb of U Murder U (Suicide). 13 year old Jimmy Duncan was one of the young people at the hospital that morning – this is his story. It was a school day. Jimmy Duncan didn’t go to school today; instead he went to the local internet cafe and sat in front of a computer for hours. This was his safe place – here there was no bullying, no hateful words, no hitting and no laughing at him. Here he played games, listened to music and chatted with virtual friends online. He spent six hours in the internet cafe and during that time he ate ten packets of crisps, five chocolate bars, five packets of sweets (500g packs) and he drank a litre of cheap cola. At 3pm he left the cafe and walked home choosing not to take the bus and face public humiliation. Jimmy closed the front door, he heard sounds coming from the front room; the TV was on. He walked into the front room and saw his mother asleep on the settee. A half full one litre bottle of cider was next to an empty cider bottle under... read more
Each year one million people die from suicide – A growing number of these people are Teenagers – At GLL Publishing we believe this has to stop. The ‘Talk To Someone’ Campaign is geared towards encouraging people to get help by talking to someone. There are so many organisations like NSPCC, ChildLine, Kidscape, Samaritans etc that help people. Don’t Suffer in silence – Talk To Someone!!! Next month the GLL Publishing Blog will start a series of short stories based on the lives of ten teenagers who convened at a Central London hospital to take part in a suicide pact. The stories are taken from the book, ‘U Murder U (Suicide), which is a fictional novel published by GLL Publishing. Gladys x 30th March 2015 www.gllpublishing.com https://www.facebook.com/gllpublishings.co.uk?ref=hl... read more
Sometimes I wonder why he didn’t Talk To Someone. They say it’s the people left behind who suffer when you go. They do you know, they really suffer when you go, they constantly ask themselves what they could have done to stop you, what they could have done to change your mind and help you see that everything looks different under different shades of light. A Proverb says – Weeping may endure for the night but Joy comes in the morning. You may think that you have no one to talk to, you are so wrong. Your mother or father, a relative or a friend will ask themselves a number of questions when you die, one of which will be, why didn’t you Talk To Someone? Some faiths believe that when you kill yourself you go to hell, where you remain for eternity. I believe that there is nothing so bad that you cannot get help to deal with it. To get through the weeping you have to believe that there can be joy, take fifteen minutes and make a list of some of the good things in your life, the people who love you and who you will be leaving behind, heartbroken and shattered. Recently, there seems to be one story or another in the newspapers about someone killing themselves every week. As a daughter, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a niece and a friend, if there is one thing I can say to make you change your mind about killing yourself it is this – Talk To Someone, don’t suffer alone – I say this in... read more
Most people will know someone who committed suicide or know someone who knows someone. I do. When I finished my MSc in Medical Microbiology at university I got a job in a renowned London hospital’s microbiology laboratory and it was there that I met him. He wasn’t that tall and was balding, slightly built and told me once that he bought some of his trousers in the children’s section of clothing shops. He took me under his wing and taught me the difference between studying Medical Microbiology and working in a laboratory where I could put my theory into practice. He used to wind me up by calling me ‘Gladiola’ instead of Gladys – he told me it was the name of a beautiful flower and I believed him (we didn’t have Google back then for me to check if it was true or not). I worked with him for nearly seven years; two of those years were spent on maternity leave having my children. When I went back to work each time he brought me up to speed and made sure that I was okay with all the new methods. The things I remember most are his willingness to always help me when I needed help at work, how when we had a misunderstanding I would frown at him, and he would frown in return then things would somehow go back to normal. Once, I identified something in a patient’s sample; something that was quite rare and he confirmed what it was then got everyone’s attention and made everyone aware that I had found it and he heaped... read more
