'I was due to start university then a knock on the door changed my life forever'

A mum has told how a knock at the door her life changed forever weeks before she was due to start her degree at university.

Nina Smith, from Wigan, was preparing to study mental health at Edge Hill University when she was told ther brother, had taken his own life at the age of 30. But despite the shattering news, the former teacher was not prepared to postpone her studies.

The mum-of-two, 35, has previously said: "To lose my little brother, just two weeks before I was due to start a master's in mental health, was devastating. Rather than deferring, I decided to throw myself into my work.

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"My first day at Edge Hill was only four days after the funeral, and we spent the day completing suicide prevention training. If only I had done this training a few weeks earlier, maybe I could have helped my brother. It took me a while to be able to interact with people. When I first started, during lectures, tears would stream down my face as the content we were learning about was so pertinent and personal to me.

"I would like people to realise that people who die by suicide are not just numbers or statistics. They have a face, a name, and a story. They are people with families who love them and miss them every day."

Nina, now a PhD researcher passionate about suicide prevention, has lobbied the education sector. She shared her experience with schools and colleges after Will's death and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship. She used this to research school-based suicide prevention strategies in Australia and the US.

Her recently published findings, compiled as a practical blueprint of support strategies, are now helping to inform