Dad-of-four Aaron Deeley, 43, tragically took his own life on January 14, 2022 after falling from a second-floor window at the hospital after being admitted for mental health issues.
The dad, from Canvey, left behind a loving family including daughter Alexis Deeley, 17, who has called for lessons to be learnt from his death around men’s mental health.
Best friend – Alexis and Aaron (Image: Alexis Deeley)Alexis said: “It is three years since his death on Tuesday and I still want my dad to be spoken about, to prove men’s mental health still matters.
“Speaking about him is really important, I think there has been a lot of deaths related to men’s mental health and men’s suicide, men often feel they shouldn’t come forward.
“They really suffer, and people should look into what happened to my dad and see men really suffer, they should not feel they cannot speak up.
Devastating – Alexis and Aaron (Image: Alexis Deeley)
“As a daughter who lost a dad to mental health, it is heart-breaking to see men struggle, they feel it is not man enough.”
After three years, Alexis has said the “devastation” caused by the loss of Aaron has not faded and “everyone has grieved in their own way”.
She said: “The death hits me like it was yesterday, I cannot accept he is gone and part of me hopes he comes back.
“My dad was my best friend, he took us under his wing 24/7, he would do anything for anyone, and he was an amazing parent. He was a really funny man, hilarious, and he knew how to make us laugh.”
Family – Aaron, Alexis, and family (Image: Alexis Deeley)
Aaron left behind Alexis, as well as children Hunter, Destiny and Jason. Aaron’s sister-in-law, Louise Collins, added to Alexis’ call for mindfulness.
She said: “There needs to be more done around men’s mental health, they are too scared to speak up.
“Aaron spoke to doctors and said he was fine, he really wasn’t and more must be done to let them speak out, not be scared or frightened.”
A coroner ruled Aaron’s death was contributed to by neglect after it was found the second-floor window at the hospital was known to be faulty.
The Mid and South Essex Trust, which manages the hospital, has since secured all windows at the hospital and updated policy to ensure the safe supervision of mental health patients.