Samaritans chairty: 'Vital to learn lessons from Vicky Norfolk's suicide'
A CHARITY is reaching out to people with mental health problems after a woman with a skin complaint was driven to suicide.
Samaritans are reaching out to vulnerable people to help fight the effects of mental health problems after Vicky Norfolk, 31, jumped off the Humber Bridge.
Vicky's remains were found close to Welton Waters a year to the day after her bike was discovered abandoned on the bridge.
She had attempted suicide twice when she was gripped by depression as she coped with chronic skin condition rosacea.
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A spokeswoman for Samaritans in Hull said they can offer support for people round the clock.
She said: "Every suicide is a tragedy and that's why trained volunteers are available 24/7 to offer confidential support to anyone struggling to cope or feeling suicidal.
"We believe talking about your situation can help alleviate despair.
"By seeking help at the earliest stage, the effects of depression can be controlled."
Vicky's mother Anne is calling for more support for people with mental health issues after an inquest heard her daughter had taken her own life just months after depression took hold.
The condition began to rule Vicky and her family's life as they found specialist help hard to find.
Now, her family are campaigning for better and more accessible help.
Anne Norfolk, Vicky's mother, said: "It is vitally important lessons are learned from Vicky's death.
"As a family, it will help ease our pain if we know we can help others in the same situation.
"I want the necessary authorities to really reach out to people suffering from depression and give them a helping hand."
Mrs Norfolk, of Swanland, wants to work with organisations to educate people of the signs of mental health issues and to make services more accessible.
"If we can work together to address the issues we faced as a family when we were dealing with Vicky's depression, it would be the first step," she said.
"We found it hard to reach the right people to help my daughter and if we had we may not have been left with this hole in our lives.
"I appreciate all the hard work specialists do and the tough position everyone is in when it comes to dealing with depression but I really feel more can be achieved and I will do my bit to help if I can."
The spokesman for Samaritans said people often do not realise how serious mental illness is.
"Sometimes people do want to talk, but we just don't realise," she said. "Fortunately, people do put out signals. Often they are very tentative signals, but the signs are often there if people know what to look for."
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