Son's tragic last message: Please fight for mental health

Families deliver suicide Baton of Hope to No.10

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

GRIEVING families delivered a powerful message to Downing Street to tackle the biggest killer of young people in the UK.

They want action to prevent 17 people dying by suicide every day.

Among them was Ross McCarthy, who went to his GP with severe depression and was put on a six-month waiting list for therapy.

He died by suicide two weeks later, aged 31, leaving a fiancee and three-year-old son behind.

In a heartbreaking final note to his family, he begged: "Please fight for mental health. The support is just not there."

Ross's death in 2021 left his dad Mike devastated but he is determined to honour his son's final wish and fight for better support.

He joined forces with other bereaved families to mount Britain's largest suicide awareness campaign, Baton of Hope, urging MPs to prioritise mental healthcare.

Over a month, the Baton made by a goldsmith and silversmith to the late Queen Elizabeth II has been carried around 12 cities across the UK by families bereaved by suicide.

It was delivered to Downing Street yesterday by Nickie Aiken, Tory MP for Westminster, along with Dr Alex George, the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador, Wales footballer Will Vaulks, Norman Cook, aka DJ Fatboy Slim, and the GB Olympic eventing team.

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