Wales schoolboy Kian Southway (15), died on March 31 at his home in Wales days after the start of the government’s coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The mom of a teen, Jolene, thought to have taken his own life during the lockdown in the UK has urged families to tell their kids “it’s okay not to be okay”.
Wales Online reports that his parents, Jolene and Julian, have told how they think he felt “isolated from the world” due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Jolene Southway, from Treorchy, said: “It was so unexpected, I think we are still in shock. We’re numb. We need people to know Kian wasn’t suffering from mental health issues, he wasn’t depressed”.
Kian held a black belt in kickboxing and was a former member of the WCKA kickboxing club in Rhigos. A video paying tribute to the teenager has also been made and shared by friends encouraging young people to open up.
“We didn’t expect this at all. We constantly talk and we encourage the kids to talk, we don’t hide anything. Kian knew it’s okay not to be okay and he didn’t talk. We will never know why”, Kian’s mother said.
“When Kian died, I rang as many parents as I could. People think they can see it coming, they think it comes in patterns. We are a family you don’t expect this to happen to. Kian had the best life. It destroys people, families, it destroys everything”.
The family spoke publicly about what happened to Kian in the hope to raise awareness of mental health among young people. You can donate here.
