Father vows to campaign for suicide awareness after son's death in Abbots Langley

Jack Edwards, 22, of Wycliffe Court in Pinehurst Close, Abbots Langley, is believed to have taken his own life on July 22 at his father Marcus’s flat. 

That afternoon, Jack and his father had been enjoying a barbecue with friends in the garden of the flats. Mr Edwards said his son seemed fine and there was no indication anything was wrong. 

That evening, Jack went to telephone his grandmother and his half-sister, Natalie, aged two, while Marcus was clearing things away. 

When Marcus went to use the bathroom, he noticed a light was on. He asked if Jack was going to be long but there was no response. 

Jack had hanged himself in the bathroom. His father said: “I couldn’t get the door open, so I went to get a screwdriver, but I couldn’t get the door off. 

“If it was weaker I would have just broken it down. I ran to a friend who brought an electric saw, but he couldn’t do it. By then the fire brigade had arrived and they prised the door open.

“The ambulance was there too. They tried their absolute best.”
Jack was taken to Watford General Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Jack

Mr Edwards said an inquest will happen in due course but that the coroner told him the circumstances were “not suspicious”. 

He said: “I was distraught. I am broken. I feel like half of me has been ripped out. Jack was the only reason I had carried on.”

Mr Edwards had himself struggled with depression and anxiety, and said Jack had told him he suffered with similar difficulties. He had even found Jack in their garden on one or two occasions suffering anxiety attacks.

He added: “I have to carry on for him, the last thing he would want is for anyone to do anything silly. I will do what is right for him. I don’t think he meant to do it and it was perhaps just a desperate moment.”

Speaking about his son, Mr Edwards said Jack was “such a loving person”, “wise beyond his years” and a great support to his friends when they needed him.

He added: “He was just a caring, compassionate, loving kid from day one. Just a sponge for people to unload on. He was funny, absolutely hilarious - he had me in stitches.”

Jack

Jack lived in Clacton-on-Sea, staying with his father about five times a week since Mr Edwards moved to the area seven years ago. 

Jack was looking for work in Watford and a place to live. His father said he was due to start a new job at UPS and was looking at a flat in the same block as him.

At college Jack had trained in social care and often worked in care homes looking after the elderly. 

Mr Edwards recalled how his son loved to play online as part of a large gaming community where he had many friends and had also been having a five-month relationship online with a girl from America. 

He said: “They would talk all night Skyping until they fell asleep. I would come in every morning and they were asleep in front of the screen together.”

Jack's father said he and his son would talk for hours “about anything”. “He knew he could come to me”, he added. 

But on July 20 Jack went to the doctor.
“He wanted to talk about something, but he couldn’t”, Mr Edwards said.

“I tried to push him into it, but he had just closed down. I said, ‘you’re unhappy’, he just said ‘I’m alright’.

“He knew he could come to me but the hardest thing he just couldn’t bring to me. That’s the hardest thing.”

The bereaved father said he wants to raise awareness of suicide in young men once his son’s funeral has passed. 

He said: “I’m hearing a lot about it; young men struggling, taking their own lives. Just getting a message to one person so it doesn’t happen to another family - I can’t sit idly back and do nothing.”

Jack will be cremated at Weeley Crematorium. A date has not yet been set.

His father wishes to thank the emergency services, hospital staff and friends for their support.

Have you experienced similar problems? Call Samaritans free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org