(Image source: RTE)
A couple have appeared on Prime Time to talk about their son Eden, who died by suicide just after his 18th birthday.
According to RTE, Maggie and Raymond Heaslip have spoken about how their lives will never be the same after the loss of their son who died in September 2021. They spoke about how they lived in Crosskeys in rural Cavan with Eden, their other son Finn and their daughter Chloe.
The Heaslips said that Eden had been the victim of serious bullying that he could not cope with and while no-one can be sure of the reasons behind suicide, they feel that this bullying may have contributed to his state of mind when he passed away. On one occasion he told his father that he was being badly bullied in school. Raymond spoke about how the family tried to help by getting Eden some private counselling and asking a family friend, Fr Jason Murphy, to speak with Eden. Eden’s older brother Finn also tried to help him but Eden was too afraid to tell anyone who was responsible for the bullying.
Fr. Jason also spoke to Prime Time, explaining that he had done his best to give support to Eden. He also spoke about how he went to the hospital to see Eden where he met the ambulance bringing him in. Sadly, he realised that Eden had already passed away.
Eden’s parents explained how they felt that there could be an element of sectarianism to the bullying as theirs is a mixed marriage – Raymond is Church of Ireland while Maggie is Catholic. Raymond and Maggie spoke about how they cherish wonderful memories of their son who had a keen interest in music, hurling and cars. He was restoring an old Lexus with his brother.
Raymond and Maggie said that lockdown was very hard on their son. He had started a new school where he was settling in but lockdown meant that he could not meet with his friends. He eventually decided to leave and look for an apprenticeship. At the time of his death he had started an apprenticeship to become a mechanic, something he was very happy about.
Eden’s parents explained that their daughter Chloe found out that Eden was receiving a lot of bulling on social media. Horrifically, some of the bullies even posted messages on some of his online accounts after he died.
In memory of Eden, the Heaslip family have set up an anti-bullying campaign, “Be Buddies, Not Bullies”. They have had thousands of anti-bullying car stickers which are being used all over the country and in New York, Australia and England which they can stick on their cars and share awareness. Finn set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the campaign in the hope that they might be able to help someone else who was experiencing problems like Eden.
The family want to see more done to tackle the problem of cyberbullying and they want to raise awareness of “Coco’s Law”, anti-online bullying legislation names after Nicole “Coco” Fox, who died by suicide in 2018 after years on online bullying.
A few months after losing Eden, the Heaslips are still trying to come to terms with their loss but they are anxious to try and save other families from suffering a similar tragedy.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.