22-year-old home worker commits suicide after being traumatized by washing dead bodies during Covid outbreak

Her parents claim that having to wash dead bodies traumatized a 22-year-old care home worker from Aryshire who worked throughout the pandemic and committed suicide just six days before Christmas.

Taylor Watterson worked at Irvine’s Fullarton Care Home and Dreghorn’s Shalom Care Home.

She began working in the care business at the age of 17 and tragically committed suicide on December 19, 2017.

According to the Daily Record, Taylor’s parents, Andi and Lana McCleave, stated her employment ‘had a lot to do with her mental health.’

Lana made it plain in a statement on Facebook this morning that while the challenges of care work during the pandemic had an influence on her daughter’s mental health, it was not because of her employment that she committed suicide.

Although Taylor’s experiences during the pandemic had an influence on her, her family believed she had mental health concerns before going to work in care.

‘She enjoyed her profession and would speak warmly about her residents while working in the industry,’ the social media post continued.

Taylor took her own life just six days before Christmas last year after struggling with her mental health - she had also had mental health issues before she started working in care

Taylor had ‘lost count’ of the number of dead bodies of residents she washed who tragically died during the pandemic, Lana told the Record.

She added: ‘I couldn’t believe it when she said it.

‘She was just a young girl and was having to do it regularly.

‘Doing that over and over again and seeing residents she was close to regularly passing away was hard for her to take.’

Taylor tried to seek help by getting in touch with her GP prior to her death and was prescribed medication to help with her mental health.

But she took her own life just a few days before Christmas, leaving her family heartbroken.

Taylor’s mother, Lana McCleave, wrote on Facebook in February this year: ‘Our wee family have been overwhelmed with support from our family, friends and our workplaces since the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter Taylor.

‘We will never as a family get over this however tomorrow is the day my life begins all over again.

‘Let’s raise awareness as it’s much needed not just in our community but all over the country.

‘Local charities have been inundated with requests for support from GPs, NHS, Schools even police Scotland.’

Since Taylor’s death, Andi and Lana have been tirelessly fundraising for more support for grieving families.

Taylor began working in care aged just 17 after helping her mother look after her grandmother in her old age

Taylor, 22, ‘loved her profession’ and developed a strong bond with her patients, making their deaths during the epidemic particularly difficult to bear, her mother claimed today.

Beautiful Inside & Out, a mental health organization located in Kilmarnock that provides counseling to bereaved families, has received a donation of £1,200 from the family.

Confida FM, Lana’s employer, also donated £1,000 to the organization.

‘Helping others is what keeps us going,’ Lana said. We don’t want anyone else in this situation.’

‘It’s hard enough for us to get out of bed in the morning, but we want to dedicate as much time as we can to this and raising awareness,’ Andi told the Daily Record.

He added: ‘We will do as much as we can to stop one other family going through this, If we can help one person it’s been worth it. We were lucky we had a great support network around us to help.’

He added: ‘When suicide happens, it’s not just the loss of that person – everybody round about is affected.

‘There’s very little help for the individual and there’s no help for families, and that’s what we are trying to change. We need to try and get more help for people.’

Andi and Lana have created a GoFundMe campaign to seek funds for a sponsored climb of Goatfell on the Isle of Arran.

So far, the GoFundMe has raised almost £500, with all proceeds going to Beautiful Inside & Out.

The Samaritans are available to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. To find your nearest branch, call 116 123 for free, send an email to jo@samaritans.org, or go to samaritans.org.