Sam
Didn't get to celebrate his 21st birthday
My son Sam was 20 so he never sadly got to celebrate his milestone 21st birthday, which is horrific really when you think about it.
Sam was unique, he was so so funny. A very popular boy, very loud and eccentric with his crowd, but quite shy and introverted when with people he didn't know so well.
He liked to sing music, he liked to dance to music, he liked to play his guitar to music, attended many gigs, concerts and festivals with friends. He just loved music, he'd always be playing it 24 hours a day.
I'm hoping in the future families can discuss mental health around the home or around school, college, wherever you might be with your children or your friends. Just like we would with physical health, you see your friend not looking great one day and you say “are you alright?”, and he might say “I've got a bit of a sore throat”, and as a parent you'd offer medication from the chemist, and if it got worse you'd say “Come on let's get to the doctors it's not right”. It's just dealt with as a day to day thing, and I think that mental health should very much be the same.
I'm hoping with the CALM C.A.R.E. Kit you can take advantage of, it will give us those tools, so we do know what to say and what to do, and what the next steps should be and how to approach the subject. It can only be a good thing.
