Another Suspected Suicide Recorded

Saint Lucia has recorded another suicide. On Friday morning a 29-year-old man was found dead as a result of a suspected suicide. The body of Nicos Felix was discovered at his home in Sarrot, Bexon.

An opposition MP who knew the deceased spoke with the STAR on Friday following news of the suspected suicide. “I’ve known him from the time I started representing the community, since 2005,” the MP for Castries south-east, Guy Joseph, said. “He was always a jovial fella and somebody I always checked for whenever I was in the area. I also recall giving him some work in the community when I was a minister,” Joseph recollected.

Asked whether he had any details of a possible reason why Felix would take his life, Joseph had this to say: “I have spoken to the family that he was living with. They are not very sure about what would have led him to commit the suicide.”

The former government minister went on to disclose, however, that a few weeks ago he did encounter the deceased who appeared depressed. “He seemed more on the quiet side at the time when I spoke to him. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he had not been working for a while and if there’s anything that he could get to do. I told him, ‘Well the job market is very difficult now, there’s not really anything going on,’ ” Joseph explained.

He also acknowledged that he was aware that the young mad had some mental issues, which the STAR was also able to confirm. “He had undergone some treatment and was taking some medication as far as I know,” Joseph said.

Felix’s body was found on his knees with a rope around his neck and police have already ruled out foul play.

Following a spike in the island’s suicide rate in 2014, a suicide hotline was launched in May of this year. At present, there are 12 trained volunteers who are available round the clock seven days a week to take calls, offer counselling and provide additional support.

Coordinator of the Castries Seventh-day Adventist church-sponsored Suicide Prevention Lifeline is Dr. Franklin Bray, a clinical psychologist and minister of religion. Since opening, the “lifeline” has reportedly received more than twenty calls from persons of various ages, young and old.