The grief-stricken mother of tragic teen Jade McGrath has issued an appeal to parents and children to speak up about bullying.
A major search operation was launched on November 28 after the 19-year-old was reported missing from New Craigs psychiatric hospital in Inverness.
Yesterday, Jade’s mother Samantha Taylor and stepfather Robert Taylor told the Press and Journal: “Jade was a happy girl when she was young and always had a good sense of humour. She was funny.
“She was sensitive – she had a tough exterior but inside she wasn’t strong.
“We feel we have been let down by the mental health system and feel it needs a major overhaul.”
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Miss McGrath’s body was found on Sunday afternoon around half a mile from New Craigs Psychiatric Hospital where she was last seen by her father and hospital staff.
Her mother continued: “Initially, on Sunday, it was a relief but now I don’t feel any better. My body won’t stop shaking.
“So many people have been trying to help, even just offering going out to look, people giving up their days off. The local community have been amazing – our kitchen is full of all this beautiful home cooking and now all the cards are coming in.
“All the different emergency services and people who gave up their time, including volunteers such as the coastguard, we are thankful for what they have done. They tried their hardest to find Jade.”
Mrs Taylor told of how her daughter suffered from bullying during childhood – which she believes ultimately led to her admission to hospital.
She added: “She was recently diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder which is mostly referred to as BPD, and BPD is usually the result of childhood trauma. In Jade’s case, the childhood trauma was bullying.
“I would say [to any kids going through similar issues] to tell your parents and your teachers everything. Don’t hide it from them because that is what Jade did with us. Don’t hide it.
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“Also, a message to parents – there is always going to be bullying – we are never going to completely get rid of bullies in this world. What we have to do instead is make our kids tough enough to handle it and we have to help them to be resilient. We have to foster resilience in our kids when they are very small.”
The Childline website advises that nobody has the right to bully you and whether it is done by friends, family, people at school or strangers, it’s never OK. The site adds that there are ways to get it stopped and ways to feel better about yourself.
