NEWS: Gone Too Soon

Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
November 11, 2008

THE heartbroken parents of a troubled student who has taken her own life today vowed her death would not be in vain.

Ashley Cameron has died just two weeks before her 21st birthday, just as she appeared to be on the road to winning her battle with mental illness. Her parents have chosen to speak about the tragedy in order to highlight the problems faced by young people battling mental health problems.

Ronald and Carol-Ann Cameron, of Mid Road, in Bathgate, intend to establish a foundation in their daughter's name to provide help to other young people.

Mrs Cameron, 44, told how her daughter had suffered a series of mental health problems, including obsessive compulsive disorder, after starting high school.

But she added: "When she died she had everything to live for. She was two weeks away from her 21st birthday. She was going to see Sunshine on Leith and she had tickets to see Marti Pellow.

"Our cat Clea had just had a litter of kittens and Ashley was going to take one of them on. She'd already named him Theo."

The former Deans High School pupil had started studying for a social care qualification at Stevenson College in the hope of better understanding her own illness and ultimately helping others.

Mrs Cameron added: "When she was a baby she was the happiest little girl in the world. She would walk around the house singing. But when she turned 12 that all changed. She went on to high school and started being bullied, and that's when she started to develop OCD.

"She couldn't touch her clothes. I would have to help dress her in the morning by holding her trousers at either side so she could jump into them.

"When she was about 15 the OCD turned to self-harm."

Mr Cameron, 58, a cabaret singer, added: "She was approached quite recently by some of the girls who bullied her, who said they were really sorry about what they did.

"She wouldn't even listen to them. She said, 'Don't you dare apologise to me - what you did to me has ruined my life'."

The 58-year-old - who was once approached to join the fledgling Bay City Rollers in the 1970s - hopes to organise a series of charity concerts to get the Ashley Cameron Foundation off the ground.

He said: "The system needs to be made aware of the problems these young people are facing. Ashley ran into a bit of trouble with the law but it was mostly minor stuff.

"Her social workers were never much help, and she was never on any medicine for her problems."

Mr Cameron appealed for anyone who could help with the launch of the foundation - which would promote awareness of depression, self harm and OCD among young people - to contact the family at catherine-mutter86@hotmail.co.uk

"The problem is people don't like to talk about it, so those in pain don't know how to cope," he said.

WHO IT AFFECTS

OBSESSIVE-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition that is thought to affect two to three per cent of the UK population.

Anyone from young children to older adults - regardless of gender and social or cultural background - can suffer from OCD.

OCD can take many forms, but, in general, sufferers experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome thoughts, images, impulses and doubts which they find hard to ignore.