A MOTHER whose 10-year-old son talked about taking his own life has spoken out on the ‘heartbreaking’ ordeal of caring for a child struggling with mental illness.

Leanne Foote, 39, opened up on the despair of caring for her son Drew Woana, 10, who she said had struggled with autism all his life and later tried to end his life.

It came as John Woodcock, the Barrow MP, used a parliamentary debate to urge the Government to fix the ‘broken’ system of children’s mental health provision.

Telling MPs Drew had waited 15 months for an appointment with Cumbria’s mental health service for children, he said health bosses were failing to support children and families in need.

Miss Foote, a mother-of-four from Walney who cares for her children full time, said: “It was heartbreaking getting through it all.

“He was going through a stage when he kept saying he wanted to kill himself and would wrap things around his neck.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world when you’re child is sat there and they would rather die than live.

“I was so scared. I just wanted him to get better.

“There are no words to explain that feeling. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Drew, a former Barrow Island Community Primary School, was excluded at five years-old for lashing out at school.

He later found a place at George Hastwell School

Miss Foote, who suffers with depression herself, said she and her son had faced considerable distress as he was forced to wait 15 months for an appointment with Cumbria’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

“He’s had a hard time,” she said.

“He’s done some crazy things for a child and we just haven’t had the support that we needed.”

Now she and Mr Woodcock have both spoken out in effort to help families whose children struggled with mental health issues, criticising a lack of funding at the top.

The MP said: “People like Drew should not have to wait 15 months for an appointment.

“That was 15 months when that child was at risk and that family was going through something—it is hard for parents to imagine their child in distress, desperately reaching out for help and just being put on an interminable waiting list.

“Any government of any hue must, as a first step, be honest about the scale of the problem and how much is being stored up for future generations.”

Miss Foote added: “I’m very thankful to John for speaking out about this.

“I hope it’s taken seriously and not brushed under the carpet like everything else. “I want to tell mothers everywhere who are going through the same, struggling with their children, that they are not alone.”

Miss Foote said her son was now seeing a psychologist once a week and was improving

“He seems to be having a good spell but things can change,” she said.

Mental health trust Cumbria Partnership and Lancashire Care, which is set to take over services in October, have been approached for comment.

Health minister Jackie Doyle-Price responded to Mr Woodcock by saying: “We have identified that children’s mental health services have been underfunded for generations, and we have to fix that – of that there is no doubt.”

The Mail has launched the 'Time to Talk' campaign after a spate of people taking their on lives. the campaign hopes to raise awareness of mental health conditions and remind anyone suffering they are not alone and help is out there.