Ahead of Wolves marking their Together Against Suicide fixture at Molineux this weekend, supporter Daisy has shared her inspirational story.
Readers should be warned of references to suicide which some may find distressing.
Anyone affected can visit the Premier League’s Together Against Suicide online hub, or call Samaritans free, day or night, on 116 123, while Wolves Foundation’s Head 4 Health programme offers workshops and physical activities to boost mental wellbeing.
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In a certain part of the country, if you should ever have the need to call 999 to request an ambulance, there is a chance that you will be greeted, on the other end of the phone by Daisy.
That, for those next few seconds, maybe minutes, at such a stressful and traumatic time in your life, Daisy’s calmness and decision-making will do everything possible to find the best way to deal with the situation.
Amid any understandable panic and confusion, or in some cases a desperate call for help or guidance, it will be Daisy in whom you will place your trust, and your hope.
That’s because she is one of the thousands of emergency call handlers employed by the Ambulance Service, one of the thousands who have decided to put themselves in tense and high pressure situations with a need for quick and decisive action, out of their own selfless motivation to help.
“You have a beep in your ear, and as soon as you hear that beep you get ready for what is on the other end of the phone,” Daisy explains.
“It’s hard sometimes because, well, nobody ever wants to call an ambulance for people.
“It is often the most scariest thing that they have ever experienced.”
Daisy, aged 22, is a Wolves season ticket holder who spends every home matchday in the South Bank with her Dad, Simon.
And what makes her story all the more extraordinary, and all the more inspirational, is that there was once a time, and once an emergency, where the call to 999 was about her.
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Back in 2019, when she was 15, Daisy was a student at a school near her home, coming towards the end of Year 11, and ready to take her GCSEs.
Also back in 2019, Daisy tried to take her own life.
Thankfully, she survived, although the injuries which she sustained in the process led to a gruelling period of rehabilitation, both mentally and physically.
There was no one underlying reason which prompted Daisy to decide to take the course of action that she did. No one trigger which pushed her to the edge. Instead, it was an accumulation of issues and challenges which affected her mental health and eventually meant she saw no other alternative but to end her life.
“I was actually very energetic and boisterous when I was younger,” Daisy reveals. “I messed around a lot of as kid and got in trouble a lot at school…for talking mostly!
“But I think I became a bag of nerves as soon as it came to secondary school. It’s quite a lot of pressure when you are only 12 years old to be picking your GCSE subjects and things like that.
“At that age, I don’t think you realise how vulnerable that you are - you are trying to be an adult, but you are not an adult at all.”
Whilst she has no issues in discussing what happened on that day nearly seven years ago, understandably, her memory is quite hazy.
“Nothing happened that day differently to any other, it was just like I woke up and felt like I’d had enough,” she explains. “I’ve got a bit of a foggy memory but I walked quite a long way, it was about four miles.
“So, I didn’t change my mind at all, which I thought might happen.
“I was about a month away from sitting my GCSEs, so the pressure was piling on. And I was at a point where I just felt so overwhelmed. My head felt like it was full, and like I was fighting a losing battle.
“I would say it had just got to the point where it wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to die – it was just like I felt it was the only way to stop everything that I was feeling in my head at that time.”
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“Daisy has always been one of a kind,” says Dad, Simon, who is talking publicly and bravely about what happened to his daughter for the very first time. “Just a brilliant, brilliant girl.
“Daisy’s got a half-sister, Victoria, and we always used to go on holiday together, and life was good.
“I do know there was a lot of pressure on the kids at school But I would never have expected anything like what happened.”
It was any father’s worst nightmare that day. Simon received a call from a member of the public using Daisy’s phone to say that she had been in an accident. But that she was breathing and talking.
Driving to the scene, he was given a police escort through the traffic but wasn’t allowed to see her in the ambulance. Which, understandably, caused concern.
By the time he reached the hospital, with Daisy’s mum, Fiona, amid the pain and the trauma of the uncertainty and the not knowing, there was one moment of humour. And a moment which at least put their minds at rest, that Daisy was still, very much with them.
“Me and her Mum walked into intensive care and all we could hear were a couple of Wolves songs,” Simon recalls. “The one about Jody Craddock, and then another one, both with expletives in.
“So, I mean, amid all of that sadness, there was laughter as well, which feels very strange to say.”
“It must have been the medication,” laughs Daisy. “Apparently, when I was high on the ketamine, I was singing Jingle Bells and those other Wolves songs.
“But I was told off because it was some of the ruder Wolves chants!”
Daisy’s injuries were severe. She had fractures to her back, her hips and her wrist. It was a very long road to recovery, and a painful and complex one. She remained in hospital for over a month, and then rehabilitation continued at home.
“When I first started rehab, I had to walk on kind of a tiptoe with a bend in my knee,” she reveals. “That’s how my foot on the left hand side would work.
“I never thought I’d have to learn to walk again, but I did.”
The new resilient Daisy was already coming to the surface. Having somehow survived and started recovering from horrific injuries, it wasn’t just her body that started to heal. It was also her mind.
She actually took her GCSE exams, some in the hospital and then some at home, all under the careful watch of an external invigilator.
“That must have taken so much strength,” says Simon.
Having completed those GCSEs, Daisy went on to spend two years at Lincoln College, gaining the required qualifications to continue her studies at University.
And that is where the association with Wolverhampton, and Wolves Foundation, extended to way beyond football.
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Head 4 Health is a project run by the Foundation to support adults with their mental health.
Originally funded by the Premier League and PFA, with additional investment from the City of Wolverhampton Council, an eight-week programme of informal and educational workshops and physical activity aims to improve the mental wellbeing of participants.
This is then followed by the opportunity to attend ‘Extra Time’ sessions as well as ‘Check in and Chat’ and ‘Walk & Talk’, continuing to offer a safe space for social interaction and open discussion.
For Daisy, Head 4 Health became a crucial part of student life, as she was successful in applying to study a degree in health studies at the University of Wolverhampton.
Not just looking for an outlet to help with her mental health, she had also been concerned about the amount she was drinking as part of university life, and, alongside the step of cutting back on alcohol, weekly trips to Molineux became a place of vital sanctuary.
“I don’t know if I would have been able to continue through university without coming to Head 4 Health on a Tuesday,” she admits.
“I never knew how much a coffee and a chat would help.”
Although, at first, it was more about the coffee, and less about the chat.
Daisy is substantially younger than a lot of the other participants within the group, and took time to come out of her shell. But just by being there, she was welcomed with open arms, and friendships were formed.
“When she first came to the sessions, Daisy would sit in the room on her laptop with her headphones on, often watching Eastenders,” says fellow Head 4 Health participant Clare.
“She would not talk to any of us. She was painfully shy, obviously really nervous and anxious, and it just felt like she put a barrier up at first.
“We managed to break down that wall by talking about Eastenders. And Wolves as well.
“We are all very passionate about Wolves, and Daisy already had a season ticket.
“Just getting close to her, talking to her and letting her know we were all sort of in the same boat but with different degrees of mental health issues, very soon she opened up which was wonderful to see.”
“Do you know what though?” adds Daisy. “Even when I wasn’t communicating, in my eyes I was still spending time with people even though I wasn’t talking to them.
“And I didn’t miss any Tuesday, I didn’t miss a session ever. I always turned up, even if I wasn’t speaking to people.
“But, as time went on, I managed to open up, which was something I didn’t really do before, and that’s all thanks to Head 4 Health and the Foundation.
“It has helped me feel so much more happy in myself, happy with other people, who had been strangers before.
“The people who sit in front of me at Molineux, who have sat there for six years, they have noticed as well.
“I never used to speak to them at all, and I don’t know what happened to make that different, but I am really happy that it did because I can’t imagine ever going back and sitting there without talking to anyone.
“Imagine if I had never come to Head 4 Health three years ago. I would never have had all these really nice people in my life.
“When I was younger, I would never have imagined being friends with people, like proper friends, with people in their 40s or 50s, but they are all like family now.”
“Head 4 Health has been a massive, massive part of Daisy’s life,” adds Simon.
“And I really can’t thank the Foundation enough.”
Graduating with a 2:1 qualification, Daisy was then successful in landing her influential new role. Her story continues.
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Last November, at the conclusion of the Foundation’s third annual Gala Dinner, Daisy received the showpiece award, the ‘Spirit of Wolves’ accolade, as a reflection of her incredible spirit and resilience and her inspirational story which has positively impacted so many other lives.
You could have heard a pin drop as a ten minute video was played out, chronicling Daisy’s story, and how it has come full circle to not only graduating but working as an emergency call handler for the Ambulance Service.
With barely a dry eye in the house it was an emotional moment, with proud parents Simon and Fiona there to share it, and the Wolves’ male and female playing staff among those clearly moved by what they had seen.
