Love Island star Paige Turley has candidly opened up about her friend’s suicide.
Paige’s friend Jamie took his own life in December 2022 when he was just 20 years old.
His sudden passing shocked both Paige, 25, and the community of West Lothian, Scotland – where the reality TV star’s from.
“Jamie was so young. He had so much of his life ahead of him,” Paige said in an interview with OK!.
“His death has had such an effect on the community such as his friends, family, people who knew him as a child – it was surreal and devastating.”
She added: “It was the shock of his death that took its toll [on me]. After that everyone grew so concerned about each other that they forgot to think about how they felt.”
Sadly the star revealed that she can “count on one hand” how people she knows who have taken their own lives within the last couple of years.
Paige went on to label Jamie’s untimely passing as “wake up call” for people in the area to ensure that they’re “looking after each other”.
Noting that the pandemic will have contributed to some people’s poor mental health, Paige continued: “I think after the pandemic especially, the amount of people that are suffering with their mental health and don’t know where to go. Some don’t even know that it’s poor mental health that’s wrong.
“I suffered with anxiety just after the pandemic and I didn’t even know that’s what it was until someone pointed out some coping mechanisms that make it better.”
Following Jamie’s death, people in Paige’s local area have been doing fundraising for mental health charities, and the Love Island star wanted to do something too so is now embarking on the London Half Marathon.
Money raised for her run will go towards Mental Health UK.
As the 25 year old’s big run looms closer, Paige said she’s training by going on runs by herself or with Love Island beau Finley Tapp, and revealed she couldn’t even run 3k before embarking on this challenge.
She has also been doing PT sessions that consist of cardio, crossfit training and boxing.
“I didn’t realise how much of a positive impact that training would have on my own head space,” Paige shared with us of her gruelling regime.
The star has been sharing her training progress with her 1.6 million Instagram followers and will be taking part in her half marathon on 2 April.
Click here to donate to Paige’s JustGiving page.
If you have been affected by this story, you can access support via the Samaritan's website, or email them on [email protected].
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