THE family of a teenager who took his own life wants to save others by helping men talk about their mental health.
Cameron Williams died last year, aged 19, after being left devastated by the death of a friend in a road crash.
His family are setting up a foundation in his name to end the stigma around discussing men’s mental health, to fund charities providing practical support and to direct men to help when they need it.
Cameron’s aunt, Amelia Care, said: “Mental health, especially in men, is not talked about enough and there is so much stigma around it.
“Men don’t talk about their feelings, and this needs to stop.”
Cameron, described by his family as a “much-loved son, grandson, nephew, cousin, partner and friend”, took his own life in September last year.
He lived with his mum Melissa Care in Downend, attending Stanbridge Primary School and Downend School as he grew up.
Amelia said he had been devastated by the loss of his friend and work colleague Tyler Carley in a road accident on the Avon Ring Road in December 2023.
They were both passengers in a scaffolding lorry which overturned near Mangotsfield.
Former Mangotsfield School pupil Tyler died in the crash; Cameron was not physically injured.
Amelia said: “He came out without a scratch but it absolutely devastated him.
“We tried encouraging him to go to the doctors but he didn’t want to relive it – he was so traumatised by what happened.
“For somebody so young as Cameron to take his life is so completely shocking.”
“Looking back now you can tell that he was struggling, but he kept it to himself – he was very good at hiding it.
“He had survivor’s guilt and PTSD, and he always said ‘it should have been me that died’.
“Cameron did not talk, he did not open up about how he was feeling, always brushing it off and saying he was OK.
“He wanted to be brave but this is what we want to get over – it’s OK not to be OK.
“If you’re not feeling good, talk about your feelings. You’re not less of a man if you’re feeling sad and feeling down.”
Melissa, Amelia and their mum Karen Parker have set up the Cameron Williams Foundation to keep his memory alive.
Amelia and four of Cameron’s friends will run the Bristol Half-Marathon on May 11, to raise money for two charities: SOBS – Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, which has been helping Melissa and Amelia through their grief, and Talk Club, a male mental health charity providing talking groups, therapies, and an online community.
The family also hopes the foundation can serve as a point of contact for men who are struggling with mental health.
Amelia said: “There are charities and people out there that will help, it’s just finding them.
“If we can just help one person, we’re doing something – we want to save lives.”
More information about the Cameron Williams Foundation is available on its Facebook page at tinyurl.com/4j8b7w7h.
Donations towards the charities the foundation is supporting at the Bristol Half-Marathon can be made online at gofund.me/00f4aae7.