Mom in UK helped others but took her own life after her son died

Mother who devoted her life to bereaved service families commits suicide over the death of her own soldier son
By MARK NICOL
25 August 2012

A mother devastated by the loss of her soldier son in Afghanistan committed suicide after her grief became too much to bear.

Gill Atherton, 47, killed herself five years after her son, Guardsman David ‘Jaffa’ Atherton, 25, died in a battle with the Taliban.

She is believed to be the first mother of a UK serviceman killed in recent conflicts to take her own life because she couldn’t live with the loss.

In a tragic irony, after her son’s death Mrs Atherton had devoted her life to helping other bereaved service families, drawing on her personal experiences to provide emotional support and legal advice.

Her daughter Kelly, 27, said: ‘My mother was never the same person after David died.

'She put on a face for us as best she could but she could not mention his name without crying. It was impossible for her to move on.

‘The grief became too much and in the end my mother could not cope with losing David. It is clear to us all that is why she took her life.
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sent from Nadia McCaffrey