Bridge patient in plea for help

A MAN who threatened to jump off Briton Ferry Bridge just days after being sent home from a mental health ward has made a dramatic plea for help with his problems.

Police had to close the A48 in both directions while a negotiator talked down Stephen Smith before he could attempt to leap to his death.

Now the 23-year-old, who is staying with his mother in Hendy, says he is terrified he will harm himself or someone else unless he gets appropriate care. His mother is also constantly fearful of what he might do if he does not remember to take his medication.

Treshia Smith said her son could suffer a complete personality change in which he would became extremely aggressive. She has a metal plate in her face after he pushed him during one of these violent "episodes".

Mr Smith, who was in Neath Port Talbot Hospital's F Ward for mental health patients from August until last Thursday, said he had not wanted to be sent home but was told he could not stay.

He had gone to spend some time with his dad in Briton Ferry for a couple of days when the bridge incident happened.

"All I want is help. I don't know what is going on sometimes. I have no memory of being on Briton Ferry Bridge," said Mr Smith.

"The first thing I remember is coming round in a police cell. I hear voices in my head. It's not nice. They tell me to hurt myself and hurt others. I try to block them out and sometimes I can keep them under control by distracting myself.

"Other times, I don't know what happens. I need help to deal with these problems. I don't want to live my life like this."

Mrs Smith said that, apart from hearing voices, her son had also suffered epileptic-like fits.

He had also previously tried to kill himself while living with a former girlfriend in Port Talbot.

"I didn't want him to come out of hospital," said Mrs Smith.

"Now they won't take him back. They say they haven't got enough beds. I can't be here with him all the time, and I don't think he is capable of handling his medication.

"I'm not saying he should be in hospital for the rest of his life. But he should be somewhere he can be monitored."

She said her son was often completely normal but when he suffered an "episode" he could become violent and aggressive.

"Then he could be a danger to himself or anyone else," she added.

"But he doesn't know what he's doing until you tell him about it afterwards."

A spokesman for ABM University NHS Trust said that because of strict rules on patient confidentiality, they were not able to comment in detail about the case. "However, we have not received any formal complaint and we are not carrying out any investigations," he said.

"In mental health services, our main objective is to keep people out of hospital and, where they need hospital care, to discharge to community services as soon as is safe and practicable. The decision to discharge is never taken lightly.

"A patient would not be discharged unless a clinical decision had been made that they were fit to be discharged. We can also confirm that there has been no issue with bed space."