My family’s world turned upside down when, on the 18th March 2020, Emily decided she couldn’t cope with life under lockdown and attempted to take her own life. This was the culmination of years of struggles and a late diagnosis of autism, which was hidden to all but her closest friends and family. She died, 5 days later, in the hospital where she had been born 19 years earlier.
In her last note to me and her mum, she said ‘The last thing I’d like to ask of you is don’t be ashamed of what I have done. I don’t mind people knowing about what happened to me if it will help them before it’s too late.’