Hull mum backs calls for mental health counsellors in every school
Sally Burke believes it could have helped her daughter from reaching crisis point.
There are calls for every secondary school in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire to have a mental health counsellor.
The government's today being asked to set aside funding so that all pupils have someone to turn to in school if they're struggling.
Hull mum Sally Burke is among those backing the campaign.
Her teenage daughter, Maisie, suffers severe depression and anxiety and says she struggled for months with no or little support.
She eventually had to be admitted to an inpatient unit over 60 miles away in Sheffield after trying to take her own life - something Sally thinks could have been avoided. She told Viking:
"With mental health, early intervention is key and I can't say for definite but if her problems had have been spotted when she started showing signs in school, then it might not have escalated in the way that it did.
"Maisie first said that she wanted to kill herself in the July and then she was then admitted in the December with no or little support in between.
"I do believe that there are a lot of things that could have been in place for Maisie at the time and her problems could have been treated more simply in the community but because they weren't picked up on, her issues got worse and it got to crisis point where a bed was the only available option to help keep her safe.
"But the government, health professionals and schools have this knowledge now so it's about time they did something positive.
"We need people in schools who are trained to see what the triggers are of autism and anxiety to really understand how a child is in that environment and also to our community as a whole."