'Losing my brother was like losing a piece of me'

Millie lost her brother Rhys to suicide in 2023

A teenager who lost her brother to suicide in 2023 said support from a bereavement charity helped her through one of the darkest times of her life.

Millie, 16, from Port Erin on the Isle of Man, found out her brother had died at the age of 29 when police came to her house to tell the family he had been found.

Looking back on that night, she described how she broke down and said: "It's just like a piece of me is gone."

Millie's parents referred her to the charity Cruse Bereavement Support Isle of Man, which helps people to navigate grief.

The charity is affiliated to Cruse Bereavement Support, which is the UK's leading bereavement charity.

Millie said of her brother: "He was like my best friend and it was such a hard thing losing him.

"I was able to talk through missing him and... it just really helped me remember him in a good way and not think about the bad things."

Cruse uses a grant from Children in Need to deliver bereavement support to children and young people experiencing grief who live on the Isle of Man.

Millie described her big brother as her best friend

Millie described her big brother, 15 years her senior, as "really funny, extroverted, and loud".

Through counselling and meeting other young people she said she "can actually talk with people who have dealt with loss like me and struggle with it".

She said: "When my brother passed I was very low, I wouldn't really speak to anyone, and I feel like I've definitely improved since I've been with Cruse."

Claire Brew is a young person's bereavement specialist

Children and young people bereavement specialist Claire Brew worked with Millie as her counsellor.

She said: "We just clicked straight away, we had a really lovely relationship.

"Millie is one of our more special young people I would say because she does absolutely everything."

Ms Brew said doing the work she did was "a privilege, to be able to see these young people and help them through their darkest times".

"To have that feeling of knowing that you've helped a young person through their grief, through a really tough time, that's the most special feeling for me."