21-year-old kills herself after being constantly bullied at school for being homosexual: 'No one will help me'
A heartbroken mother opened up about her daughter's struggle with her sexuality and how she was constantly bullied for it, leading her to commit suicide.
At the age of 21, Caitlin Kirkaldy, from Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia, was found dead in her bedroom last Thursday, August 8, Daily Mail reports.
Bron Kirkaldy, her mother, spoke to Daily Mail Australia about the tragic death.
"I remember her sitting on my lap and crying when she was in Year 9, saying 'I don't think I like boys'," the devastated mother said.
"We said that was absolutely fine, but I think she really struggled with her sexuality. She was bullied at school for being gay, and she was desperate to be loved. Of course, we loved her, but I think she really wanted a relationship."
Bron then spoke of how her world fell apart the moment her family learned Caitlin was dead.
"The night it all unfolded was when my youngest son Liam returned home after traveling around Australia," she said. "All three of my kids are extremely close, so she would have wanted to see him. But her phone was off, which was weird, so he went around to her place to see her."
When Liam reached his sister's residence, her roommate told him she was asleep.
"Caitlin then came out and had a massive fight with her housemate. Liam said he'd never heard Caitlin yell like that before," Bron said. "Caitlin ran off, and Liam didn't know what to do. The next day, we hadn't heard from her and we were worried. The housemate rang and I said 'Where is she?', and the housemate replied: 'Dead'."
The family immediately alerted the authorities, who asked her to visit the station.
"The police asked me to go into an office at the station, and I just knew," Bron said. "They confirmed what happened and asked me to identify a photo of Caitlin's body. I shouldn't have done that alone."
According to Caitlin's family, she was working at a cafe and struggling with debt following a number of car accidents, which left her owing $14,000 in damages.
"Of course, we told her not to worry about it—we'd help her out—but Caitlin didn't see it that way," the mother said.
"She was a young person who had a big debt, had been bullied for her sexuality, which she never came to terms with, and struggled with depression since she was a child. We tried to help her—she had a lot of people around her who were trying to help—but it was too much for her."
Bron had spoken to a number of her friends who told her Caitlin had been saying "no one will help me," although they kept trying to help her.
"I just don't know what kind of help she was after," she added.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family to cover funeral costs.
Bron described her daughter as "strong, generous, and staunch," and someone who always went "out of her way to make people around her happy."
"She knew what you really wanted for your birthday or Christmas and she'd always go out of her way to get it—it didn't matter what it cost or where it was - she'd get it for you," the heartbroken mother explained. "She'd do anything for anyone, and she was a really great barista—people loved her coffee."
According to her, Caitlin was learning to cope with her illness of late and seemed happier in the weeks leading up to her demise.
"She'd seen psychologists and taken meds in the past... She really tried, and we thought she was fine," she said. "I don't know if she knew what she was going to do. I try not to think about that now... I'll never know."
Bron said it could be difficult to know if a loved one is struggling, but that you should always try to reach out to them.
"My advice is, talk to someone," she said. "It doesn't matter what time it is, if you're going through this you need to talk to someone straight away. Ask for help."
Caitlin's funeral is scheduled to be held 11 am Friday at the Garden of Remembrance on Ruthven St.
Anyone struggling with depression or mental illness is urged to contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.