Suicide of Young People: Kelly talks about the death of her brother Lewis

£25.00

Kelly talks about the death of her younger brother by hanging.

SKU: 2960
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Producer: Malcolm Brown Associates
Year Produced: 2002
Running time: 28 minutes
Trailer:  Watch on Youtube
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PDF:  Teaching Notes

Description

Kelly is the elder sister of Lewis, a 16-year old technical college student who took his own life by hanging, some 18-months prior to the interviews.

Lewis had done very poorly in his GCSE examinations in the summer and had refused to show his results to any member of the family. He expressed interest in carpentry and with his mother’s encouragement, signed on at the technical college for a carpentry course. Apparently he liked the practical work but not the theory and took to missing classes. In November, 1999, his brother rebuked him for taking and letting-off some of his fireworks. A few days later, his sister rebuked him for skipping classes and this led to a heated argument between them. Very shortly after this, Lewis took the cord from his sister’s dressing gown and hanged himself on playground monkey bars fairly close by. The family had nicknamed him, Stormin’
Norman because of his tendency to go off in a huff when things were not going in the way he wanted them to. Lewis’s death was totally unexpected and came as a great shock to the whole family. However they tend not to talk to one another.

Kelly has shown herself to be the strongest member of the family. She needed four weeks off following Lewis’ death but was able to prepare an address and present it at the funeral without breaking down. She is angry with her brother for taking his own life, does not think he was depressed and is puzzled about why he should give up on living before he has seriously started to live. She misses him as great deal, especially as she sees his friends turning into young men. Some days are much worse than others but she needs to keep strong for her family whom she sees as at risk. It’s hard to talk with her friends about Lewis and it will be hard to find a boyfriend who will be able to accept her times of sadness. She feels vulnerable but throws herself into her work and is very determined not to let her brother’s death dominate her life.

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