My 13-year-old daughter took her own life... I'm living every parent's worst nightmare

Kathleen Firth, 37, discovered her 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa Morris, had taken her own life in February 2023. She says Alyssa's death came after months of "relentless bullying" but believes it "could have been prevented" with the right support.

Alyssa was found in Brungerley Park in Clitheroe, Lancashire, where she used to build dens with her brother, Jenson, 14 - just five days before her 14th birthday. Kathleen believes that social media, bullying and the lockdown created "the perfect storm" of circumstances that lead to her daughter's death.

The mum-of-four suspected Alyssa may have been neurodiverse but was unable to receive a formal diagnosis - which she believes prevented the teen from getting the correct support.

Alyssa's family - including her dad, Chris Morris, 36, and siblings, Poppy, 11, Jenson, 14 and Daniella, 17 - have been fundraising for Papyrus, a mental health charity for young people, Chester Hospital and the firefighters, to help cope with their grief and to keep Alyssa's memory alive.

They hope by sharing their story, they can raise awareness of the dangers of social media and online bullying. Kathleen, a support worker, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, said: "Alyssa took a part of me with her when she died, and life hasn't been the same since.

"As a family, we're still coming to terms with the loss. It haunts me that her death could have been prevented, had we known what was really going on and if she'd had the correct support. I knew she'd been struggling, but we had no idea how bad the bullying had become.

"Thanks to phones and social media it didn't just consume her school life, but it intruded into her home life too."

Alyssa was described as a "funny, beautiful, very clever" young girl, who loved drawing, Hamilton the musical and had dreams of working with animals. An inquest heard that the teenager began displaying "social anxieties" and had self-harmed.

Alyssa first experienced bullying when she started secondary school in 2020, and Kathleen claims that despite moving schools, the bullying and harassment continued and even included a physical attack at a bus stop in July 2022, which was reported to the police.

Kathleen said: "She'd started self-harming at 11, which was terrifying and left me feeling completely helpless. I tried to speak to her about it, but it always led to arguments and she'd get very defensive.

"Whenever I tried to seek medical help, she would get upset. Alyssa wasn't comfortable discussing issues in front of people. She became really isolated during covid, which didn't help her anxiety.

"Covid separated her and the only form of communication she had was social media. She wasn't really supposed to be using social media, they're not designed for children her age. But we had to become more lenient because she couldn't go out and play during Covid.

"We monitored her phone every day but she deleted things she didn't want us to see. The bullying was mainly on Snapchat, and the messages disappear after a certain amount of time so we didn't see them. The minimum age to use Snapchat is 13, but I think that's too young.

"It's not suitable for children."

On February 12, 2023, Kathleen was shopping in Aldi when she was alerted to an incident in Brungerley Park after her sister text her to ask "if the kids were OK". She "rushed" home to check on her children, but Alyssa was not there.

Alyssa was found unresponsive in the park "just a few minutes away" from her family home and passed away shortly after at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital. An inquest was held at Accrington Town Hall and Coroner Richard Taylor returned a conclusion of suicide.

Kathleen blames social media platforms for "trivialising suicide" and believes videos and content Alyssa was exposed to "failed to make her understand the severity of her actions". Kathleen said: "I don't ever want to let her name die with her.

"I want to keep her name alive. I will always advocate for children's mental health. It's two years since and it still doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like it's happened to me."