Derry woman pens song about mental health to help others

A Derry woman has written a song to encourage those suffering with mental health issues to seek help.

It comes after Cheryl-Ann McEvoy helped two people who were experiencing acute mental health episodes over recent years.

The most recent incident acted as motivation to become a member of Foyle Prevention Team (FPT) which patrols the River Foyle three nights a week.

Recalling the most recent incident, Cheryl-Ann said she collected her partner from work one evening when they passed a teenager in distress.

She explained: “We usually go over the Foyle Bridge to go home but for some reason that night we went up through the town.

“We were driving past the City Hotel and noticed two girls pleading with someone at the other side of the railings.

“I seen them, stopped the car and jumped over the wall.

“To this day I don’t know how I jumped over the wall, I still don’t know how I did, but I ran over and held on to her until emergency services arrived.

“For a half an hour I was holding on for dear life and she was shouting, ‘just let me go, just let me go’.”

That was the second incident of its kind with the other occurring on January 26, 2019.

On that occasion she ‘pulled a girl off the Craigavon Bridge’ who was in her mid-twenties.

The more recent encounter from August 2020 involved a 16-year-old girl.

In a state of shock afterwards Cheryl-Ann (below) went home and wrote down some lyrics on paper to keep in her songbook not thinking she would revisit it.

She called it ‘Sixteen’ which was the age of the young girl.

A close friend believed it was a relatable story for many families in Derry and said she should consider recording it as a means of helping other people in the same situation.

Cheryl-Ann says mental health has become a ‘pandemic’ in its own right over the past few years.  

“Most Derry people, when driving across the bridges, don’t look at the road, they look at the railings for the very real fear of someone trying to end their own life.”

Towards the end of last year Cheryl-Ann began working with FPT.

Friends in FPT have pushed Cheryl-Ann to record the song, in the hope that someone might hear the song, and ‘think twice about ending their own life’. 

She explained: “Being in the FPT, has really opened my eyes, I knew the mental health scenario in Derry was really underfunded, and a very raw subject for most people.

“However, I didn’t realise just how many people go to the river, and thankfully someone was there to stop them.

“To date, the FPT have stopped over 70 people from September and the number just keeps getting higher. 

“But please, if you’re ever reading this, or listening to the song, know that there is help out there.  No matter who you are, or where you’re from, help is there.

“It’s just knowing where to find it.  Talk to someone, a problem shared is a problem halved, and halved again until it becomes small enough for you  to carry,” she concluded.

You can listen to Cheryl-Ann’s single on various platforms including Spotify.

If you feel in crisis and need support or if you have observed someone who is in distress and may come to significant harm through self-harm and suicidal behaviour please call the Community Crisis Intervention service on 028 7126 2300.

If you need to speak to someone urgently, please call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000, the Samaritans or attend your local Emergency Department.