A young mum who made several attempts to take her own life is now devoting her time to a support group aimed at helping others.
Leona O’Callaghan said she was so fed up at the lack of services provided by the HSE she decided to set up Haven Hub two years ago.
Now she works tirelessly on behalf of survivors of domestic, sexual or physical violence having lived through a similar trauma herself.
Haven Hub has more than 70 volunteers across it Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Cork branches and has been involved in over 300 suicide interventions.
Leona was groomed and raped as a 12-year-old child and came to national prominence in 2018 when she waived her right to anonymity so her rapist could be named at sentencing.
The mum-of-three believes sharing her own story has given hope to those in the depths of despair and shows that things do get better with the right help and support.
Leona said she was spurred into taking action after her own son Dylan, 21, was badly let down by the HSE when he tried to take his own life.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “When Dylan was brought in, a doctor told me to concentrate on my other children, that Dylan would always be trouble.
“I was furious because I knew the system and that they could judge you.
“The psychiatrist said he would always be trouble and was looking for attention and that if we fed into this attention seeking behaviour that he would stay like that.
“I turned around and told him that he was wrong and that Dylan was in crisis and was not just looking for attention but needed attention, that there was a difference.
“I didn’t walk out on my son and I didn’t do what they said. The doctor refused to ever see me again because of my attitude but that was okay.
“That could have been detrimental to Dylan. He needed me in those moments. He needed someone to believe in him.
“That was not offered by the HSE. Thankfully Dylan got that help in other places.”
Recalling her own experience she said the practice of people who feel suicidal being turned away from hospital emergency departments needs to change.
She added: “I myself have gone for what was supposed to be a walk and had a suicide attempt, straight from the hospital grounds.
“If a person has active thoughts of suicide there is no way they should be in their own care. It doesn’t make sense and yet it’s still being done.
“The busiest time for suicide is midnight, that’s what the statistics show, and yet everywhere is closed except for the A&E.”
The HSE said it cannot comment on individual cases but a spokesman said all treatment is “informed by the individual’s mental state”.
He added: “In terms of those who are feeling suicidal, Mid West Mental Health Services provide a number of pathways for people in crisis.
“We always encourage people who need support to contact their GP in the first instance.”
Leona’s son Dylan Campion said he is now helping to establish a ‘Lads’ Shed’ for young men in Limerick.
He said: “Haven Hub and the Lads’ Shed has given me hope. It makes me feel like I’m not alone.”
Last September Leona won an Unsung Hero Award but for her the real job satisfaction is seeing how the service helps others.
She said: “I said when I opened the Haven Hub that if it made a difference to one life it would have been worth it.
“Things can feel as though they are rock bottom but things do get better. There is hope.”
If you would like to donate towards the new Lad’s Shed or Haven Hub go to www.gofundme.com/the-haven-hub-lads-shed.
