A MUM has paid tribute to an off-duty nurse whose kindness saved her from a suicide attempt.

Sue Rogers, 37, was intent on ending her life in the summer of 2017; consumed by feelings of hopelessness and a fear she would never feel better, she made her way to a bridge over the A55.

Her life was saved when off-duty mental health nurse Joe Lewis, whom she had come to know from her time as a patient on Glan Clwyd Hospital’s Ablett psychiatric unit, made his way through the queuing traffic and a police cordon to talk to her.

Sue, who was a new mum at the time, is sharing her experience to mark World Mental Health Day next Wednesday (October 10), with the aim of giving hope to others, especially new mums, who might be struggling with their mental health.

Sue, from Henllan, hit “rock bottom” in her battle with severe mental health problems, which first developed after the birth of her daughter, Jessica, in March that year.

She said: “I didn’t feel I wanted to live any more. At the time I just felt numb.

“I just wanted to shut my eyes and for it all to go away as I felt that nobody could help me.

“While I was on the Ablett unit, I was treated by Joe. He made me feel like a person, rather than just a number.

“I felt at ease with him and he’d always have time to sit down and be there if I needed him.

“When he approached me on the bridge, he just gave me that vital little bit of hope that there was some treatment that we hadn’t tried, and that I could get better. My advice to anybody who is struggling is ‘never give up and keep trying everything’. It might take time, but you will get there in the end. There is hope.”

Sue added: “It had taken me over 10 years and three cycles of IVF to finally become pregnant and Jessica was such a wanted baby.

“I was the least suicidal person you could meet and I’d never had any problems with mental health before.

“But after Jessica was born, I was crying a lot and deep down I knew there was something really wrong.

“It got to the point where I got so scared because I thought I was never going to get better.”

Sue spent three months on the Ablett unit.

Doctors believed she had developed post-partum psychosis, a severe episode of mental illness which affects one in every 1,000 new mums.

Since being discharged in the autumn of 2017, she has been supported by the Tîm Dyffryn Clwyd community mental health team and her condition has improved.

“Sometimes I feel guilty that I missed out on so many months with her when she was little. But I’m trying to make up that time now,” she added. “I’m well and I’m happy and just go glad that I’m still here.”

Joe has been shortlisted for a Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) achievement award as a result of his life-saving intervention.

“It’s so lovely to see that Sue is now living a normal life and coming out of the other side of being in a very bad place,” he said.

Anyone needing help, should telephone the C.A.L.L. mental health helpline on 0800 132737 or visit www.callhelpline.org.uk