A Leeds woman says she still messages her late friend as a way of overcoming her own struggles. Katelyn Frost, 17, from Leeds has spent years dealing with her own mental health issues and faced a very difficult time following the death of her friend, to this day she still speaks to her when her mental health is low.
Katelyn says she had a year of being 'turned down' by community mental health services when lockdown first began and due to this she had no choice but to go into a psychiatric hospital. She spent two years in and out of these hospitals.
Katelyn spoke of the neglect she saw inside these hospitals, which is where she witnessed the passing of her close friend Chelsea Mooney. Chelsea passed away the day before Katelyn's 16th birthday following reported failings by Sheffield Cygnet hospital.
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A coroner who investigated the death of 17-year-old Chelsea said staff had "limited concern" for the risk of patients on the ward.
Abigail Combes, a coroner for South Yorkshire, has this week ordered Cygnet Health Care to take action in a Report to Prevent Future Deaths. The report was prompted following an inquest into the death of Chelsea, who was classed as a "high-risk patient" while at the Cygnet Hospital in Sheffield due to her anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The coroner said that the hospital "downgraded" the seriousness of self-harm by patients which may have led to slow response in removing Chelsea's ligatures on the day she died.
Cygnet Health Care responded to the report saying that its "commitment is as steadfast as ever to ensure children in our care receive the very best support". It also pointed to a recent CQC report that "acknowledged we follow best practice with respect to safeguarding".
Katelyn said that she saw two other people pass away during hospital stays and has seen other friends take their lives due to their mental health. She was discharged from hospital in April 2022 and despite it being a big shock she was able to transition back into the community and now she is advocating that everyone asks for help if they need it.
She said: "Two months after being discharged from a PICU (psychiatric intensive care unit) in Manchester I started studying my nursing associate degree at Huddersfield university at only 17 years old.
"A lot of people questioned my ability due to my age and mental health problems, but that just made me want to prove them wrong more.
"By July only 3 months after coming out of hospital I had my own student accommodation flat and 5 months later I’m starting my first placement.
"I advocate Mental health a lot after my own struggles and ask that people please reach out, living in a world trapped in your head is scary but doing it alone is even worse.
"Find a friend, family member, carers, professional, GP or even anyone you can get and tell them what’s going on, get the help you need and deserve."
Katelyn really struggled with her mental health at the beginning of lockdown, it became worse and she was sectioned under the mental health act and sent to Cheadle Royal Hospital where she spent two weeks as a crisis admission.
Two days later she was moved to Cygnet Sheffield where she was able to spend the final days with her friend Chelsea. Katelyn claims that Cygnet failed to manage people's mental health appropriately.
"Cygnet Sheffield was understaffed, and staff were unprofessional telling vulnerable children information they didn’t need to know. I was often moved to a ward with as little as 20 minutes notice and was restricted to the bare minimum.
"I was even stopped from attending my friend Chloe’s (who was also on Griffin ward who passed away 6 months after being discharged) funeral the morning of it after working hard to be able to pay my final respects.
"They didn’t tell us about Chelsea's passing till the 13th which was my 16th birthday, This day I had a pass to go home to spend the day with my family.
"The whole ward was told about Chelsea's passing but the hospital didn’t even think to contact me or my family to let them know the news, it was another of Chelsea's friends who let me know."
Katleyn still messages Chelsea to let her know what's happening in her life, she finds her own birthday difficult to celebrate now since her passing and chooses it to remember her friend.
She said: " I still message her to let her know how things are going and fill her in on the gossip and occasionally go back down to the hospital to leave her some flowers at the tree on the hospital grounds.
"With Chelsea passing so close to my birthday, I find birthdays very difficult. I don’t really like celebrating it as a birthday it feels wrong, I feel like the day should be in remembrance for her.
"My birthday itself was very hard, I felt I didn’t deserve to be happy on it and I think trying to make my birthday feel like a birthday again may never happen," Katelyn added.
She found it hard to transition after being discharged from Cygnet after spending such a long time in the hospital. She applied for further support but found it difficult to come by.
Katelyn said: "The first time I was discharged was from cygnet Sheffield, It was hard transitioning after spending so long in hospital but they attempted to give me a lot of support in the community including an outreach team who visit you every few days and a community team, but I know a lot of people who didn’t receive a package like I did.
"Unfortunately three months later I was admitted again. It wasn’t until April 2022 where I got out that I applied for a nearest relative discharge which your nearest relative can apply for if you’re sectioned under the mental health act.
"I applied for this as I was meant to be getting moved to a unit a lot closer to home in December 2022 however there still wasn’t a set date for the move and hospital was really not helpful and was begging to make my mental health decline again.
"After the appeal was put in I was allowed to do a week's extended leave at home and then I was discharged from my section and the hospital over the phone.
"It was done very suddenly and the support seemed to disappear once I was out very quickly but I’ve managed to keep on top of my mental health on my own and with the support of my family and friends.
"I surprised myself with how I’m doing, don’t get me wrong I have major dips and it’s not an easy job to keep on top of my mental health and eating disorder which once controlled me but I’m getting there one step at a time."
Katelyn is using her story to help others and since leaving hospital she has done things she never thought were possible. She has secured an unconditional offer from Huddersfield University to study nursing has her own accomodation and has been able to work on big events such as the Women's Euros and Leeds Festival.
She has a message to anyone who may be struggling. Katelyn said: "My message to anyone struggling would be to keep fighting for that help, even if you don’t think you need or deserve it give it a go!
"Someone told me this once as they said it helped them and I found it helpful myself, You’re story will one day be someone’s motivation!!!
"I find that messaging her helps me feel closer to her at the same time helps me get things off my chest to feel better mentally."
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