The family of a man who killed himself days after hospital staff deemed him at low risk of suicide or self harm have said they are still haunted by what they believe were missed opportunities to save him. David Sheppard died on March 28, 2020 at his home at Wheatley Road in Cardiff, days after he’d left the mental health crisis unit at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Pontyclun despite him “begging for counselling”, his family said.
David’s nephew Cameron Jones suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] as a result of what happened to his uncle and from identifying his body in his flat following his death. Cameron said he is determined to tell David’s story in the hope it will “make people sit up and take notice of failings in our health system”.
“David was a brilliant man, just a lovely, lovely guy,” Cameron told WalesOnline following an inquest into David's death this week. “He’d give you his last penny.
