Father's message to anyone struggling after son took his own life
A father has spoken about the loss of his son who took his own life in Wolverhampton after struggling with depression.
Dale Jarvis was 37 when he died at his parents' home in Groby in the summer of 2019.
He is now one of dozens of people featured in an exhibition, in London and online, by the charity CALM.
It is made up of the last photos of smiling people who went on to take their own lives. The outdoor exhibition is on the South Bank in London this summer.
Dale worked encouraging foreign students to travel to study in the UK and his job at the time of his death was at The University of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands. He would travel to China two or three times a year.
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In December 2018, about six months before he died, he moved from the home he shared with his partner and baby daughter to his parents' home to try to deal with his mental ill-health.
It was at their home that he took his own life on June 2, 2019.
His father, Martyn, 65, said Dale's brother Liam, sister Amy, sister-in-law Laura and brother-in-law Steve had all been a "tremendous help" to him during his last few days.
Martyn added: "He was really clever but he just couldn't take it any more. He and his partner had a daughter, but Dale had come to live with us.
"It's been heart-breaking. And it's also sad for us that since he died - with the pandemic and everything - people seem a lot better prepared to offer help when people are struggling."
Martyn said he and his wife Glynis have been supporting CALM since Dale's death.
He said they have seen many more services for people with depression being developed in just the few years since they lost him.
Martyn said: "I think it's possible Dale could have found the help he needed if it had all been happening now instead of a few years ago. At the time he went to doctors and health services, but they were no real help and there were often long waiting lists."
He said taking part in the CALM exhibition of final photographs was one of several things they had done to support the charity's work.
He said: "The most important thing for us is getting the message out there that people are not on their own.
"There is help now and suicide has really been brought to the fore recently. So many people have been getting very down due to Covid and there are loads of charities like CALM that offer help."
The couple got in touch with CALM in the days after Dale's death.
Martyn said: "We were asked by Anstey Funeral Services if there was a charity we wanted to ask people donate to in Dale's memory and they mentioned CALM.
"It sounded like a damn good charity and they've done a lot for us and we've raised quite a bit of money for them. When they asked us if we wanted to involved in this photo exhibition we were overwhelmed and happy to be part of it.
"It's such an important message to get out there - that suicidal doesn't always look suicidal at all."
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