A West Lothian family have begun ticking items off their daughter's bucket list after she tragically took her own life aged 17.
Close family and friends of Livingston teenager Megan Reid have issued a plea to Scottish musician Gerry Cinnamon to dedicate a song to her at his Hampden gig this weekend after he was her favourite artist for years. With seeing the icon live one of the top items on her bucket list, Megan's mum Gemma McKeown, her auntie Sam Reid and others will be travelling to Glasgow on Sunday to tick it off for her.
Earlier this year, Gemma and the family shared their heartbreak after Megan took her own life on April 5, following years of abuse by her father, who was jailed in 2019. A "bright and bubbly" young woman, Gemma said Megan had been left "crushed and broken" following the years of abuse and had tragically chosen to end her own life.
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A huge music lover, the teen had shared plans for the future before she passed away, including seeing Gerry Cinnamon perform live and even travelling to international festival Tomorrowland.
However, in the wake of her death, Megan's auntie, Sam, 29, told Edinburgh Live that the family will now be ticking each one off in her memory, starting with the Hampden Park event on Sunday.
She said: She loved Gerry Cinnamon and always has done; it was something we had planned on doing prior to covid, we were meant to go in may 2020, but it got cancelled, so we never got to do that, and then Megan passed away back in April.
"After Megan passed away money was tight because of the funeral and things, but we managed to get the money together for the event last week and thought right let's do it.
"It's a way for us to get together and talk about her and laugh; my sister is beside herself and has lost her oldest child and only daughter, I cant imagine her pain and she does us so proud, she's incredible and it will be so nice to see her smile even if its just for a minute.
"She was number one music all the time; she loved hair and makeup too, she was a typical teenager and music was number one, a lot of the things on her bucket list were all music related too like Gerry Cinnamon but also it was at the top to go to Tomorrowland so in a couple years were hoping to get the money together and go over and do it for her again."
As well as honouring Megan and experiencing the gig in her memory, Sam explained that the family are desperate to keep Megan's name out there, and continue a discussion around mental health.
She added: "She's going to be there with us in spirit, and if Gerry was to see our ask it would mean so much to get her name back out there, she's left us all a little bit broken, and then maybe people would become more aware that suicide is about all the time and can happen to anyone anytime, if someone like him was to mention her maybe people would stop seeing suicide as such as a taboo.
"Some people are okay talking about it but for others it almost feels like a dirty word, and we want people to realise that it isn't its nothing to be ashamed of or hidden because the likelihood is if you can speak about these feelings then you will be able to get the help that you need.
"We just want to keep her name alive. When someone dies, everyone talks about it, but then people's lives move on, but with Megan, our whole world stopped and our world hasn't started again for us, for us we are all still in that hospital on April 5 saying our last goodbyes and this is the only way we can get ourselves out of that space just for a minute, to do things in her memory.
"I think it makes it difficult to reach out for help sometimes because sometimes people's thoughts are so dark it can be taboo to speak about, they will be nervous to go to a doctor or professional and say those things in the fear they'll get locked up. But the reality is that wouldn't happen and there are support systems out there that can help, it's just knowing where to go."
If you are looking for help and support, you can find more information here. Alternatively, you can contact the Samaritan's helpline 24/7 on 116 123.
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