A mother of a troubled teen who strangled himself a year ago is speaking out at the time of her son’s birthday in order to raise awareness and understanding about teen pressures. This year Bernadette Speechly is talking about the pain of dealing with her son Jamie’s death at the time of what would have been his 15th birthday in Coulsdon. 

 Jamie died after circling his neck with a wire after an argument at home last year on May 26 in Chipstead Valley Road. Likened to his story, just last month Rosemary Edwards (15yrs old) hanged herself after running away from home in New Forest, Hampshire.
Bernadette was quoted saying: "Teenagers are not understood properly and they don't think they can go to people when they need to.” Speaking of Jamie she remarked: "Jamie had a lot of things going on in his head that he didn't tell me about and I just wish he had spoken to me a lot more."

After Jamie was suspended from class, he was told not to hang out with pals as his punishment and he rushed to his room where no one knew he was actually putting a wire around his neck.
Accidental death was the verdict recorded by Croydon’s coroner that year. Bernadette was actually pregnant at the time and even had a Caesarean section three days after. She said, "The coroner said he probably didn't mean to do what he did and was just trying to make a stand for something.”
 “He was a very lively character and a very lovable boy. I never realized he had as many friends as he did until after I lost him.”

When asked to describe how she remembered her son, Bernadette answered with the following statements:
"People knew him as a bit of an Artful Dodger but I saw the other side of him.”
"He would always come in and put his arms around me and say, I love you mum.”
Losing a child is extremely hard for any parent, and any parent who has gone through this knows that words can hardly describe the feelings inside, but the way that this mother is trying to cope—through awakening others to the reality of teen pressures—is a beautiful way indeed. 

As a mother, her words for her son on his birthday are the following:
"I just want him to know that all his family are thinking about him on his birthday and that we love him and miss him terribly."