'There's an emptiness in our home that will never be filled now that Bobby is gone' SON'S SUICIDE GAVE PARENTS THE STRENGTH TO HELP FIGHT ILLNESS.

Byline: LYNNE KELLEHER 

A BRAVE couple has spoken of the heartbreak of their son's suicide after he desperately battled with a depression.

Farmers Bernie and Eddie McCaffrey told RTE's flagship rural show how Bobby slipped in and out of the blackest depression from the age of 14.

His mother Bernie, from Co Donegal, revealed how, on the day he died, handsome 21-year-old Bobby told his parents he didn't expect them to suffer through his fight against the illness any longer.

Bernie added: "On that morning, he actually sat at the kitchen table with myself and Eddie and he said he loved us and he just couldn't expect us to go through any more, that he had put us through enough.

"We, of course, said this wasn't the case. We were never giving up. He would be so down but it's amazing the amount of people who came to us afterwards and said: 'I had no idea he was like that'. He was a lovelylooking lad and we were so proud of him. He was so handsome but that's not what depression is about. Anybody can have depression.

"There's an emptiness in our home that will never be filled. He's a very special part of our life."

Figures have shown a 43% increase in the number of suicides recorded during the first three months of this year.

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office indicate that 106 people took their lives during the first three months of this year, compared to 74 during the same period last year.

In a bid to spread the message that depression is nothing to be ashamed of, the McCaffreys set up the charity STOP (Suicide Teach Organise Prevent).

Bernie told Ear To The Ground that her son, who died in October 2007, spent seven years battling depression.

She said: "He told me, 'I'm in a dark hole Mum, and there isn't even a pinhole of light'. I can't even imagine how horrible that was. You don't ever want to believe that's going to happen to your very, very, precious son. We sought help for that and after a year things seemed to return back to normal.

"He was fine, enjoying life like any other teenager.

"But when he was 17 it came back. Then when he was 19 things got worse.

"He had good times as well, but the bad times seemed to overcome the good times."

In September the McCaffreys invited hundreds of people to their farm in Donegal for a highly successful tractor-run to raise money and awareness about depression.

Professor James Lucey, medical director of St Patrick's University Hospital, told the programme one in five of the population is likely to have a depressive illness in their lifetime.

He said: "It's not something like a brief moment of sadness, this is prolonged.

"We shouldn't give a false message that says that there are no bad stories, there are no bad outcomes."

Ear To The Ground will be shown on RTE One tonight at 7pm.

106 PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF SUICIDE IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2009

CAPTION(S):

CAMPAIGN Bernie and Eddie set up STOP to fight suicide TRAGIC Bobby McCaffrey