A "genuine and kindhearted" brother took his own life at just 17 years old.
Lee Thornley, from Huyton, took his own life on February 22, 2018, with his older brother describing him as a "genuine" person. Adam Thornley spoke to the ECHO ahead of a fundraiser this weekend that will see him, along with his friend Chris Davies undertake a 122-mile trek to raise money in Lee's name.
The 29-year-old said: "I might be biased because I'm his brother but he was one of the kindest and most genuine people you'll ever come across. He always seemed happy to me and we'll never understand what happened.
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"He was a really happy-go-lucky person and always had time for everyone. If any of his mates were struggling they were always welcome in the house, have dinner, could stay round, whatever and he was there for everyone. He was a really intelligent kid and was on his way to university.
"He was going to walk in with flying colours because he was a grade-A college student. It's a shame."
Also speaking to the ECHO, Chris, 34, added: "I think it also goes to show that, with mental health, there are no signs. Like Adam has said, there's no way we could have seen the deterioration coming on leading to that. It's all the more important now that you have the Lee Cooper Foundation to give people the ability to open up.
"Only they know what they're going through and it gives them a safe place to go and get it off their chest by speaking to somebody. It's really important."
The Lee Cooper Foundation was set up following the death of Lee by his close friends to help teenagers and young adults with any mental health struggles and concerns they may have. Adam and Chris are raising money for the foundation and are looking to try and get rid of as much of the stigma around mental health as possible.
Adam said: "It's really important to get rid of the stigma. I'm not the greatest person in the world at talking to people but people handle things in different ways and I don't believe everyone handles things by talking to people and that's why I believe the Lee Cooper Foundation is what it is.
"It's not necessarily somewhere where you have to talk about how you feel. You can go there and just feel part of something, people can go there and get their lives back on track without necessarily having to talk about things. Obviously, there is the option to talk about things if you want to talk.
"It's one of those things that you never heal from so it's just encouraging people so no family has to go through what I watched my family go through."
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