Mother 'overwhelmed' by response to suicide story

Deanna Cruickshank wants to help other families

A mother whose daughter took her own life has been "overwhelmed" by the number of people contacting her about their own experiences after she spoke publicly about suicide prevention.

Jo Cruickshank was 36 when she took her own life in 2015.

Her mother Deanna, from Buckie, Moray, thinks Jo might still be alive if she had discovered help online.

Mrs Cruickshank spoke to BBC Scotland last year about new online pop-up ads offering support.

She has been helping to fund the pop-up ads, which appear when a person uses the term suicide in a search engine.

Jo Cruickshank took her own life in 2015

Mrs Cruickshank said: "It was amazing how many people contacted me. I'm overwhelmed by the number of people who have been touched by suicide.

"And people I've known for quite some time, but didn't know they'd been touched by suicide.

"I have spoken to and still am speaking to one woman who contacted me after the BBC Scotland piece who said to me 'it's so good to speak to somebody who actually does know what it feels like'.

"It's still not something we speak about readily and I so want to change that."

On Saturday, four generations of her family will travel about 14 miles round the Buckie coast to raise more funds towards suicide prevention.

If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information 0800 066 066.