Why this petition matters

My son Alyx was just 21 when he took his own life.

He called the NHS mental health crisis line and told them he was suicidal. He stayed on the phone with them for over an hour. Still, no one came.

I called the police in desperation. They arrived 40 minutes later but waited outside the house. No one intervened. No one acted in time.

Alyx died alone, after doing everything right. After begging for help.

This wasn’t a sudden crisis

Alyx had spent years in and out of hospital, crying out for help. He overdosed multiple times. He once spent ten days in a coma. He self-harmed and spiralled through countless mental health episodes.

Despite this, he saw a psychiatrist only once after turning 18 and had just one visit from the adult mental health team.

He was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and was on the autism spectrum. He also suspected ADHD and PTSD—but couldn’t get re-assessed. He wanted help. He asked for it. He never got it.

Eventually, Alyx was admitted as a patient to the Caludon Centre in Coventry. But even then, the support fell short. He was told that if he “behaved for a week,” he could go home. Doctors said they would take him off his medication. He was discharged, not because he was safe, but because he was compliant.

Days later, he called the crisis line one final time.

Alyx didn’t slip through the cracks. He was pushed.

His death was preventable. He was failed by the NHS crisis team, by the police, by the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, and a mental health system not built to respond to complexity or urgency. 

Right now, too many others are being failed in the same way. 

In England, over 5,000 people die by suicide each year — and many had reached out to mental health services in the weeks or months before. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in the UK, and the risk is highest just after discharge from care.

That’s why we’re calling for Alyx’s Law

Alyx’s Law is a campaign to make sure no one in crisis is ever left to die waiting for help. It would:

• Mandate maximum response times for NHS mental health crisis teams
• Require joined-up protocols between police and mental health services
• Guarantee follow-up care and continuity after hospital discharge
• Reform the CAMHS-to-adult care transition to stop young people falling through gaps
• Ensure access to re-assessment for complex conditions (BPD, autism, ADHD, PTSD)
• Launch independent investigations into suicides linked to care failures — with families involved

Alyx was brilliant, kind, and full of potential. He helped others even while he struggled himself.

He should still be here.

Please sign and share this petition. Back Alyx’s Law.

Let’s make sure no one else is failed like this again.