Grieving mum in plea to others after son's suicide

7:00am Thursday 9th September 2010

By Kathie Griffiths

A heartbroken mother whose son was found hanged in a park is urging other suicidal young men to speak up and not hide their worries.

When police knocked at Adele Wallace’s door and started asking questions about her 22-year-old son she thought he had got into bother or been in a crash.

“I said ‘just tell me. What’s he done?’ They told me to sit down and said he’d been found hanged. My world collapsed at that point,” she said.

To his family, Nicky Wallace had been getting over a broken relationship, was enjoying life with friends and looking forward to decorating his flat. But now they know he was secretly struggling with his feelings and desperately needed help. He was discovered by a passer-by on Saturday in Bolling Park – a place where he played as a child and used to go jogging.

His grieving mother, who lives in Queensbury, said: “Nicky was funny. He loved having a laugh and was very loving when he wanted to be. He didn’t show any signs of being depressed at all. He never said a word about taking his own life. We all knew that what he wanted was his girlfriend back but we thought he was finally accepting how things were and was starting to move on, to get over it and get on with his life again. We were happy for him.

“He’d just put new flooring down in his flat and had bought some wallpaper. I was supposed to be taking round a new washer for him. I just can’t believe what’s happened. It was totally unexpected.”

And she made this poignant plea: “Please, if any one has worries or thinks life is bad and impossible to go on, I beg you please just talk to someone – anyone – just talk. Tell your family, your friends, a colleague, just tell someone how you’re feeling. Don’t give up. Don’t break your heart and don’t break your family and friends’ hearts.”

Mr Wallace, who grew up in Holme Wood, studied interior design at Bradford College before leaving to work with his girlfriend in pubs and clubs in Magaluf. He came home last September, his long-term relationship came to an end and he got a part-time job at Tesco in Forster Square.

“No one knew how he was really feeling. If he’d talked to someone, maybe he would still have been with us today,” said Mrs Wallace.

Nicky’s former girlfriend Carly Mitchell, 20, from Queensbury said she had just needed “a little space” from the six-and-a-half-year relationship.

“We were soul-mates, we just gelled. I loved him so much but didn’t realise he was so low. It’s true you don’t always know what you’ve got until it’s gone. You might miss the moon for counting the stars.”

Mr Wallace’s funeral is on Friday, September 17, at 10.45am, at St Christopher’s Church in Holme Wood.

If you need to talk in confidence, call the The Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 08457 909090.