Dr Alex George, the A&E doctor and former Love Island contestant, has spoken about the impact of his younger brother's suicide last year. Llŷr, aged 19, took his own life in July 2020 after securing a place at medical school. George described his brother's death as 'a matchstick' that intensified his own passion for mental wellbeing.
George, who now serves as the government's youth mental health ambassador, said he wants to make mental health a positive issue. He noted that children often associate mental health with negative terms like depression and anxiety, but he believes it can also encompass resilience, happiness and courage. The doctor has long advocated for better mental healthcare, having met former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 to discuss rising suicide rates among university students.
In his new unpaid role, George sits on the Mental Health in Education Action Group. He is pushing for ringfenced funding to ensure every school in England has a trained mental health lead, a promise made by Theresa May in 2018 but only expected to reach 25% of schools by 2023. He also wants emotional wellbeing lessons to be given equal status to maths and English in the curriculum, and faster provision of online counsellors for children.
George acknowledged the emotional challenge of handling his own grief while working as an A&E doctor during the pandemic. He described a 'strange normalisation of death' in his work, but said his brother's death pierced through that desensitisation. He emphasised that children returning to school may have had brutal experiences during lockdowns that should not be ignored.
