Mental health inquest

N E W S4 TheChronicle October 12, 2007 N E W S 5TheChronicle October 12, 2007

NEWSfile

Award for museumCHESTER City Council is celebrating after theGrosvenor Museum became the first in Cheshireto achieve a new accreditation which recogniseshigh standards in visitor services and managingcollections.The Museum Accreditation Scheme, led by theMuseums, Libraries and Archives Council,focuses on meeting the growing expectations ofvisitors and understanding their interests as wellas the interests of people who might usemuseums in the future.Councillor Eric Plenderleath, executive memberfor culture and community, said: ‘The targets setto achieve this accreditation have encouragedinnovation and improvement and I look forwardto seeing this success continue.’

Resort appointmentDE VERE Deluxe has appointed Katie Mitchellas its people development manager at CardenPark Golf Resort and Spa.The role of people development manager hasbeen newly created for Carden Park and coverseverything from general HR activities to raisingthe profile of Carden Park in the area, includingbuilding closer links with schools and colleges.Katie, who is supported by her colleagueDebbie Corbett, will also be looking to work withtourist board Visit Chester and Cheshire.Carden Park is a key employer of local talentfrom Cheshire in the hotel, its four restaurants,golf and spa facilities.Katie joins De Vere from Volkswagen’s HQ inMilton Keynes where she was learning anddevelopment manager. Her previous hotelexperience includes the Marriot Group andBourne Leisure Group.

Vision Support unitVISION Support’s mobile resource unit, whichoffers a wide range of services to anyone withsight loss, will be at Tarporley Community Centreon Thursday, October 18, from 10am-3pm.The unit will also be at Helsby CommunityCentre in Lower Robin Hood Lane on Tuesday,October 16, from 10am-2.30pm.Trained advisers will be on hand to explain thelatest equipment, which will be on the vehicle.This includes low vision aids and specialised textreaders, as well as practical items that canenhance the quality of life and maintain theindependence of those with a visual impairment.The vehicles are designed for easy access forpeople with disabilities including a removableramp for wheelchair use.■ For more information ring 01244 381515 orvisit www.visionsupport.org.uk.

CommendationsTHE family of the late city councillor JohnBoughton have made two commendations topeople who they felt deserved a special mention.They were awarded to Ian McKay from Eltonfor his long-standing work and commitment toElton Community Centre and to Keith Emertonfrom Guilden Sutton for his hard work with andsupport for the local badminton club and workwith children and young people through summerplay schemes over a number of years.

We still saw the loving, thoughtful boyAn inquest this week heard that 19-year-oldTristan Mayers died after being treated for mentalillness from the age of 15. His mother Christinetells Rebecca Edwards that – despite his illness –she remembers him as a caring teenager.

Tristan Mayers sufferedfrom depression fromthe age of ten. By hismid-teens he wasreceiving treatment for

paranoid hallucinations thatmade him think he hadcommitted the September 11atrocities.He told psychiatrists he onlyrealised nobody else heard voices intheir head at the age of 12.An inquest last Friday heard thatTristan, of Common Lane, Kelsall,died after falling 40 feet from a bridgenear the psychiatric hospital wherehe had been treated for seven months.Coroner for Cheshire NicholasRheinberg recorded an open verdictafter hearing Tristan’s psychoticepisodes – formerly known asschizophrenia – had been improvingin the weeks before his death and heseemed content.The early development of Tristan’sillness will shock many Chroniclereaders but his mother Christine andsisters Hannah, 23, and Rebecca, 27,say it never changed the way theythought about him.Speaking after the inquest,Christine said: ‘Admittedly therewere times that were demanding butas his mother I always managed tosee beyond Tristan’s illness.‘Me and my family still saw theloving, gentle and thoughtful youngboy we had raised – the same boywho for many years did normalthings like any other teenage boy did.‘Tristan played out with his friends,loved watching films and playing onthe computer.’She added: ‘He was really loving – ifI spoke to him on the phone when hewas with his friends he would alwayssay ‘I love you mum’, and we used tosit together for hours.

‘I spent a lot of quality time withTristan – maybe not in the way otherparents spend time with theirchildren, but I am really grateful forthat.‘Though the illness got worse overrecent years and Tristan’s mindbecame more fragile and unsettled,those who remained close to Tristanremembered strongly who he wasand not what he became.’Tristan’s depression is thought tohave begun before the age of 10,

when he was bullied by his peers forbeing overweight and became tearfuland depressed.Aged 15 he took an overdose ofaspirin and paracetamol, carefullyconcealing the empty packets.Christine told her son’s inquest:‘The doctors said this wasn’t a cryfor help – there was something farmore serious than that.’Tristan began treatment at the 16-19unit at the Bowmere Hospital at theCountess of Chester Health Park and

his condition seemed under controluntil October last year, when hereturned early from a trip to Spainwith a friend.Christine said: ‘He was lookingforward to going there and I think hesaw it as a fresh start, so he wasdisappointed when it didn’t work out.‘A few days later he said he felt histhoughts and paranoia come back. Itook him to see a nurse at theBowmere Hospital. Tristan wanted tobe admitted back into hospital but he

found it difficult to express what hewas feeling and they told him to goback home again.‘We left the centre and he just saidto me: ‘I don’t want to do this mumbut I’ve got to do it’. He went off anddamaged a few cars in the car park. Ithink it was the only way he couldexpress how he was feeling so peoplewould understand he was getting illagain. He was arrested and taken to apolice cell for the night. The next dayhe was readmitted to the hospital.’Christine says it was sometimesfrightening to hear Tristan reactingto illusions and voices.She said: ‘He came home over NewYear – it was just him and me in thehouse and he was up most of thenight talking.‘I got up and listened to him tomake sure he was all right and Icould hear him saying ‘I’m sorry forthe bad things I have done’. Thatmorning I asked if he wanted somebreakfast. He said: ‘No, just kill memum’.’She added: ‘I don’t think anyone canunderstand what he was goingthrough unless they have suffered ittoo. But I think that just as anyonehas things that they are worriedabout and go round and round theirhead, it was like that for Tristan but100 times worse. His mind neverseemed to be at peace.’Christine last saw Tristan two daysbefore his death, when she visited theBowmere Hospital.She said: ‘He seemed quite happy.The last thing I said to the nurseswas: ‘I think we’ve taken a turn forthe better’.’Christine says she and her twodaughters always made sure theywere there for Tristan, whether bytaking him on day trips or justholding him.She says: ‘Many people may thinkcaring for somebody with a mentalillness would be a chore. However,when that somebody is your son, younever once regard it as anything ofthe sort.‘I am proud to say that ‘challenged’by this often upsetting illness myfamily and I stayed strong. I knowdeep down that Tristan alwaysappreciated the love, support, loyaltyand strength that his family andfriends showed towards him.‘For those families who areconfronted by any sort of mentalillness I offer my support, myunderstanding, my compassion andmy love. I offer no advice other thanto simply be there, for each other aswell as the sufferer… however hardthat sometimes might be.‘It is with this strength that hismother, sisters, family and friendswill recall the nostalgia, fun andhappiness with Tristan withoutremembering any of the pain.’

DEATH SCENE: The cycleway bridge over Deva Link from which Tristan Mayers fell to his death.hk101007bridge

DISTURBED MIND: Tristan Mayers.

Puzzle why trip to cafe ended in death fallMYSTERY surrounds TristanMayers’s death last May, when hesustained fatal injuries afterfalling 40 feet from the cycle pathbridge over Deva Link near theGreyhound Park.An inquest on Friday last weekheard he was sectioned theprevious October, but had sincebeen made an ‘informal’ patient atBowmere Hospital on theCountess of Chester Health Parkand was making good progress.Nurse Michelle Jones toldCoroner for Cheshire NicholasRheinberg that staff had evenspoken to Tristan about his

moving out of the hospital in thenear future.He seemed content when he leftthe ward at about 2.30pm onSunday, May 6, for one of hisregular trips to the hospital café.But cyclist Peter Thomas told theinquest that shortly afterwards hewas cycling over the bridge andsaw Tristan crouching down bythe side of the bridge lookingtroubled.At 2.49pm Barbara and WilliamHewitt of Bebington were drivingtowards the Greyhound Park.Mrs Hewitt said: ‘I saw a greyobject fall. I thought someone hadthrown a bag of rubbish off the

bridge – then I realised it was abody.’Another motorist, AdrianBrowning, said: ‘I noticed a largegrey object falling – it looked likea sack, there was no waving ofarms or screaming.‘A shoe flew into the carriagewayand I realised it was a person. Istopped the car and ran to him, hewas lying on his back with hisarms and legs stretched out,taking gasps for air.’Tristan was rushed to A&E withinternal bleeding and a spinalinjury, where he told his sisterRebecca that he didn’t know whathad happened or how he fell.

At 6.30pm he went into cardiacarrest after a body scan and couldnot be resuscitated.Recording an open verdict,coroner Mr Rheinberg said: ‘It ispossible that in a moment of bleakdespair he did deliberately jump,it is possible he was driven byvoices that had troubled him allthis life. It is possible he wassitting on the parapet and slippedoff.‘There is insufficient evidencethat it was a deliberate fall, andinsufficient evidence to say it wasaccidental.’Verdict: open.

AN UNDER-FIRE bus company has beenforced to hire temporary drivers aftershortages led to some services being can-celled.First Group promised to ‘take good care ofChester’s bus services’ after buying the citycouncil-owned company but almost immedi-ately announced plans to cut loss-makingroutes, leading to complaints.And the latest grievance comes from pas-sengers using the No 5 route from the citycentre to Huntington.Service user Rosa Fellows said it often failedto turn up. She said the 10.35am and 11.05amservices on Tuesday had failed to materialise.‘Other passengers have been told there are

not enough drivers,’ she said. ‘Yet they are flood-ing Blacon and Saughall with buses which areoften half empty.’Ken Poole, First’s managing director for busservices in Chester and Wirral, accepted therehad been problems but blamed the way the coun-cil-run bus company, ChesterBus, had operatedand would not rule out further disruption.He said: ‘There has been some disruption inthe normal operation of service 5 and I’d like toapologise to customers for any inconveniencethey have encountered as a consequence.‘Combining the two bus companies has brought

to light a number of operational anomalies, someof which have impacted current service reliab-ility. However, we have introduced an action planto address the situation and are monitoring itssuccess very closely.‘In Chester it is reported that customers haveexpressed concern about the number of drivers.The ChesterBus business operated with justenough drivers to deliver the services, which didnot allow any slack to compensate for absence,illness or holidays.‘As part of the action plan mentioned earlier weare therefore bringing in a number of temporarydrivers to provide cover and ensure that anydisruption is reduced to an absolute minimum.‘As we continue the work to integrate the Ches-

terBus business we are meetingand successfully overcoming thechallenges of introducing bothoperational and culturalchange.‘When thiswork is complete allour customers, employees andstakeholders will enjoy the realbenefits.’

By David Holmes

Bus firm takes on temporary drivers

ACTIONPLAN: Firstmanager KenPoole.

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