John Quinn lost his son Sean to suicide following a years long struggle with his mental health.
Sean is described by his family as just a normal lad, who played football and loved horses.
Sean had tried to take his own life once before, which started John and his wife, from Clondalkin in Dublin, on the long road towards helping Sean and his mental health.
Three weeks before his death, Sean called his dad to ask for help one night, saying that he felt the way he did when he first tried to take his own life.
Sean began to have a panic attack and as a result John brought him to the hospital, where he said his son received minimal medical attention.
Three weeks later, on the 15th of June 2005, Sean was dead at the age of 17.
John lost his 17 year old son Sean to suicide and is encouraging everyone to check in with loved ones on this #WorldMentalHealthDay pic.twitter.com/Ms7Q5qWa97
— Today FM (@TodayFM) October 10, 2017
John now helps people whenever he can, using his own personal experiences to help people struggling with their mental health.
John still thinks there there is a long way to for mental health services in Ireland, but they have improved since the death of his son.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by John's story you can contact the services below:
www.samaritans.org. Free phone: 116 123.
www.aware.ie. Tel: 1800 80 48 48.
www.pieta.ie. Tel: 01 623 5606.
www.grow.ie. Tel: 1890 474 474.
www.bodywhys.ie. 1890 200 444.
www.irishadvocacynetwork.com. Tel: 01 872 8684.
www.iacp.ie. Tel: 01 230 3536.
www.psychotherapycouncil.ie. Tel: 01 905 8698.
John bravely shared his story with Dermot & Dave, you can listen to it in full below:
