An Angus woman who attempted suicide has turned her life around to help those at crisis point.
Kelly Christie sustained life-changing injuries in a car crash in 2006, which left her with a fractured skull and damage to her frontal lobe.
Three years into a difficult recovery, Kelly, from Montrose, lost hope of a return to normal life and attempted to take her own life.
Following the attempt, Kelly, now 40, managed to rebuild her life and launched a successful beauty business, working at both London and Paris Fashion Weeks.
Kelly now volunteers on the Tayside Suicide Prevention Training Group, which will be expanded in the new year after a successful launch.
‘I didn’t want to die’
The course comes from a collaboration between Angus Health & Social Care Partnership, NHS Tayside and Angus Council.
Kelly Christie took the training to help others after finding herself in precarious mental health. She now helps new recruits on the course.
Kelly said: “I had a brain injury and three years into my recovery, I decided that I’d had enough and I wanted to take an overdose.
“I did that but by the time I was in the ambulance, I was crying that I didn’t want to die.
“By the time I got to the hospital I was trying to bring them back up.
“It just shows you that people in that moment of crisis think that’s your only option and then a few hours later, you could be completely different.”
Kelly added: “My life was defined by medical professionals as having no hope since I had a brain injury and I was just told to get used to it.
“They said I’d never work again or re-train or be able to hold any new memories or look after myself.
“But I ended up retraining as a beautician and opening my own salon and won lots of awards. I worked London and Paris Fashion Weeks.
“With the right help and support, you absolutely can change your life but it’s still sad that we have to do this with the current suicide rates.”
Kelly is no stranger to helping others and worked with Voluntary Action Angus during the first lockdown, delivering food and other supplies to people isolating.
Now, the free suicide intervention and prevention courses will be rolled out across Tayside.
The courses train locals to look out for signs of suicidal behaviour and equip them with the skills to help those struggling.
The Tayside Suicide Prevention Training Group has recently trained 14 more volunteers who work across Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross.
The classes will offer facts on poor mental health and stigma, as well as how to help suicidal individuals.
People are taught to prevent suicidal situations by recognising behavioural changes and helping others develop coping techniques and create a safety plan for periods of poor mental health.
Kelly said: “Not many people know how to speak about suicide or how to approach the situation.
“My brother was walking across the [Tay Road] bridge one day and saw someone and he had no idea what to do or who to phone.
“It’s about why suicide prevention and intervention is important.”
The app Suicide? Help! is also recommended during the class as a way of dealing with triggers and preparing for low moods.
Now Kelly hopes to help others who may be struggling with their mental health, especially during the difficult winter months.
She said: “There was a high demand for the course, so the people that started it were looking to train up more people so that we could do more classes.
‘High demand for the course’
“They do one a month and it’s usually based at Stracathro but we’ve got three dates to go into the new Playhouse in Montrose.
“Not everyone can get to Stracathro, so hopefully a lot more people can attend it.
“The previous sessions have filled up really quickly, the courses are always fully booked.
“Now there’s more of us, we can spread out to different towns and areas.”
The new Montrose course dates are January 20, February 24 and March 24.
People can book spaces on the course and find out about nearby offerings by emailing james.kennedy@nhs.scot
