Michael Stevenson’s powerful message to anyone affected by Saturday’s Casualty
In Saturday’s episode of Casualty viewers witnessed paramedic Iain Dean plan his suicide after months of mental torment. In the closing scenes Iain was unable to write a farewell letter to his sister Gem, as he sat down with a concerning collection of pill bottles. While it remains to be revealed whether the troubled paramedic goes through with his plans to take his own life, Michael Stevenson who plays him has this message for anyone affected by the harrowing scenes…
“The first thing is to realise that there’s so much support out there and it’s readily available. Definitely talk. Definitely open up. Don’t be afraid to talk.
“Iain’s [inability] to open up has led him down this path, but it’s a path he didn’t need to go down. There’s so much support available to us today. It can be at the end of a phone. You don’t even have to know the person you’re talking to. You don’t have to look at them. You just have to say the words.
“I’ve spoken to people that have thought about doing this in the past, and have been saved in that last hour.
“If you suspect that anyone is going through what Iain’s going through, there’s a certain responsibility, not to hound, not to chase, but to actually say the words… Someone said what stopped him an hour before he was due to do it was that someone looked at him and actually said: ‘You’re not going to kill yourself, are you?'
“The fact that someone said that made him realise what he was going to do. To actually hear the words when he thought no one was clocking or registering it… I think sometimes we can, without hounding people or being on their backs, talk to them just to make them aware that we’re aware that they’re are going through something, that something’s not right, but that there’s a lot of love here for them.”
If you’re affected by any of the issues raised in tonight’s Casualty please seek help immediately. Advice on support available here
Casualty continues on BBC1.
