Girl, 16, 'suicidal' since age 10 killed herself a day after being discharged from hospital

A teenage girl who suffered suicidal thoughts since she was ten was made to leave a mostly empty hospital ward a day before she killed herself.

Despite begging doctors to let her stay, Brooke Firth was discharged from Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield three days after taking a packet of household painkillers.

The night before she was discharged the 16-year-old told her grandma Rosemarie, who slept beside her in one of the several empty beds in the ward, that she didn't feel safe from herself at home and wanted to stay in hospital so she couldn't hurt herself.

On the evening of Friday October 12, 2017, Brooke shouted goodbye to her family and cycled off into the sunshine through South Hiendley.

A short while later friends of her younger brother thought they'd stumbled across an early Halloween prank when they found Brooke's body in a tree, a hospital tag still on her arm.

Just over three years on from her death, mum Michelle and grandma Rosemarie remain convinced the hospital should have listened to Brooke and allowed her to stay in a place of safety.

"We think she felt worthless and was not worth the bother," Rosemarie told The Mirror.

"She has been let down completely - she was discharged even though she asked to be kept safe.

"She asked three times to be kept safe so she couldn't hurt herself.

"Brooke's suicide was predictable and preventable.

"Brooke didn't want to die, but it was always when she was on her period that she couldn't cope."

She added: "She asked to be kept in a place of safety but they turned her out."

Rosemarie and Michelle have urged people in positions of power and care to listen to teenagers struggling with their mental health as much as they can.

"I think she felt worthless and let down when she was discharged," Rosemarie continued.

"She realised that me and her mum couldn't help.

"She said I want to go to hospital and stay there.

With her dad completely out of the picture, Brooke spent much of her teenage years bouncing between her mum and grandma's house.

While they remember a happy and fun girl, when she turned ten Michelle and Rosemarie found themselves in the same heartbreaking and difficult situation thousands of parents do each year.

Brooke began to suffer from severe dips in her mental health that coincided with her period.

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