Family want everyone to see last photo of 26-year-old who tragically ended his life

The family of a twenty-six-year-old man who took his own life are wanting the world to see the last photo taken before his untimely death.

The last images captured of Steffan Rees don’t show a man in crisis, but a man living life to the fullest and making treasured memories with his loved ones.

In his last photo, Steffan can be seen smiling as his baby niece sits on his shoulders and holds onto his hands while out on a family walk.

His sister Sian, from Cardigan, Wales, described her younger brother as the ‘life and soul of the party’ and someone who ‘lit up the room’ when he walked in, factors that made his suicide all the more shocking.

LISS

Sian said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better brother. He was only twenty-six, had a loving family, a beautiful girlfriend, and didn’t say anything about having any mental health issues.”

Sian went on to channel her grief into helping others and, with the help of widows Lisa and Ana, who have also lost their husbands to suicide, has since launched the support group Living in Suicide’s Shadow (LISS).

The organisation provides support for those bereaved by suicide in west Wales, whether it be through face to face or virtual meet ups, walks and family activities.

Ana, whose husband Lee tragically took his own life, said of LISS: “Things have moved on a lot in recent years, but there is still a lot of stigma around suicide.

LISS

“People would say things like he is your husband, you live with him, how did you not see it, some people blame you for it, others don’t know what to say.”

Living in Suicide’s Shadow recently took part in The Last Photo on London’s Southbank, an exhibition displaying fifty smiling photos taken in the last days of people who died by suicide.

Lisa, who lost her husband Peter, admitted that she was ‘very nervous’ about travelling to London to see the exhibition, but got through it with the support of Ana and Sian, who she has since formed a strong bond with.

She said: “We have been on a journey together the last couple of years and it seemed fitting that we should all be taking part in The Last Photo campaign and supporting each other.

LISS

“To see the exhibition was overwhelming: a sea of beautiful faces both young and old, male and female, under the leafy canopy of trees along the Southbank. Hard to believe all these happy smiley people had died by suicide.

“My immediate reaction when I saw the life size photo of Peter was to cry. I placed my hand upon his face in disbelief remembering this photo I had taken on our thirty-third wedding anniversary just three months before he died.”

According to the suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), a massive 61% of people would struggle to tell if someone they knew felt suicidal.

For confidential support the Samaritans can be contacted for free around the clock 365 days a year on 116 123. You can also email the Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org, write to Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK, PO Box 9090, STIRLING, FK8 2SA or visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find your nearest branch.

Alternatively, you can find more mental health services around Greater Manchester on the NHS Foundation Trust website.