A Bellshill mum is set to stage a demonstration outside Holyrood after her partner took his own life despite crying out for help.
Karen McKeown is calling for a major review of Scotland’s mental health services.
The 34-year-old was left heartbroken when the father of her two children, Luke Henderson, ended his life at their home in Lanarkshire in 2017 after getting touch with health services a week prior to his death, reports the Daily Record.
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Her petition demanding the overhaul is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament and has won the backing of Scottish Labour's Monica Lennon while also sparking positive discussion amongst other MSPs.
Now Karen is gathering support for a demonstration outside Holyrood next month, which she hopes will be a pivotal point in her campaign journey.
She said: “This isn’t just for Luke. I’m doing this for every other person who could possibly find themselves in this situation.
“It’s the most horrible feeling thinking ‘could I have done something differently?’ It’s constant torment and torture and it’s like reliving it every time I have to speak about it.
“But the campaign has been gathering a lot of momentum and we’re very hopeful that we can bring change this time.”
The mum told MSPs at a previous committee meeting that her beloved partner was determined to be 'low risk' in an assessment the night before he ended his life.
Luke’s suicide caused a devastating ripple effect that left Karen and her children with their own mental health struggles. They have also struggled to access support.
She said: “One of my main goals through my petition has always been to get an accident and emergency department for mental health as well as better services.
“The statistics say that somebody who has lost someone to suicide is more at risk of going on to take their life themselves.
“One of the targets of the Scottish Government’s suicide action plan is to offer support for more people affected by suicide, but we’re not seeing that support.
“At the last meeting in Parliament the committee said they wanted to evaluate the results of the action plan before moving forward.
“I’m hoping once they see that those targets aren’t being met they will call for this review.
“We need to convince the Scottish Government to agree to that review and that’s what the demonstration is for.
“I’m hoping there will be a lot of support for it.”
Monica Lennon said she continued to support Karen’s campaign.
She said: “I admire the courage of all the campaigning families who have shared their difficult and tragic experiences, but it’s shameful that more and more people are being failed by the system that should be supporting them.
“People of all ages, all backgrounds and from all parts of Scotland are being failed.
“Above all, we are seeing childhoods being scarred by serious mental health crises because the Scottish Government has got its priorities wrong.
“Humza Yousaf should sit down with Karen and with Kyle’s family and take urgent action to save lives.”
Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said the Scottish Government needed to take a “new approach” to suicide prevention.
She said: “Every life lost to suicide is an enormous tragedy and leaves devastating and long lasting impacts on families, friends and communities.
“We need to take a new approach to suicide prevention, working in an open and inclusive way across the whole of government and society. To support this ambition, we jointly published a new Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan with COSLA in September 2022, supported by record funding to double the annual budget to £2.8 million by 2025-2026.
“Through implementation of the National CAMHS Service Specification, we are working with partners to improve provision of CAMHS urgent and unscheduled care for children and young people experiencing acute mental distress.”
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