Devastated mum of Horsham schoolboy reveals final ‘goodbye’ as she tries to help other young people

Fourteen-year-old Mason Clark died after going missing near his home in West Grinstead in September.

Now his grieving mum Jessica Clark is launching a campaign in a bid to try and help other young people.

She told how Mason sent ‘goodbye’ messages to her and a friend on the day he disappeared.

“Mason was a beautiful, kind, funny and an inquisitive soul and his death has left us devastated,” she said.

“Life will never be the same without him.”

She has now launched a fundraiser - a ‘Mason’s Mental Health Legacy’ - to try and help other young people with problems and their families.

“Mason’s interests were countless: fishing, woodwork, falconry, water sports, Anime, gaming and much more.

“He also had brilliant friends and teachers, plus a network of family, neighbours and a range of people in the community around him.

“Mason volunteered, he worked, he was told he was loved and valued. But on a normal Monday afternoon Mason walked around 20 minutes away from his home and sent messages to me and a friend to say goodbye.

“Mason said he loved me with all his heart. But Mason still took his own life.

“I am safeguarding trained and have worked with young people with mental health problems for years.

“I still didn’t see that my baby boy had reached a level whereby he felt that this was his only option.”

She said she had been talking to Mason’s friends and professionals trying to identify the factors that caused Mason’s death “in some hope to prevent others leaving us too soon.”

An inquest into Mason’s death is due to be held in February.

Meanwhile, Jessica said: “We plan to work together to identify projects and charities that could have helped someone like Mason, and that could help others.”

Nearly £4,000 has already been raised from the GoFundMe appeal amd Jessica said that some of the funds would go towards providing better mental health support in schools and in raising awareness of mental health problems among the young, and how professionals could identify warning signs and talk to parents and carers.

“I can’t bring Mason back but I hope to be able to find some way of preventing other young people from feeling the way Mason did,” said Jessica.

She is also hoping that a memorial bench can be placed on the Downslink by an old railway where Mason spent time cycling and walking so that family and friends could go there to remember him.

To donate to the fund see https://gf.me/v/c/zqt6/Masons-mental-health-legacy