The heartbroken mum of a teenager who took his own life has said marking his 18th birthday without him was like being "right back to the day we lost him".
Scott Martin was found dead in Camelon Cemetery in Falkirk on January 1 last year after bringing in the bells with his friends. He was just 16.
Today, his heartbroken mum Samantha Merrilees said spending her first Christmas without Scott, plus the first anniversary of his death and yesterday, his 18th birthday had "hit her like a bus".
She told the Daily Record : "I found it a lot harder than I had expected. Both Christmas, his anniversary and his birthday hit me like a bus. I felt like I was right back to the day we found out he had left.
"It was horrible and so much emotion in such a short space of time. "
However, the mum-of-three managed to find incredible strength and marked Scott's special day with a lantern release at his graveside, surrounded by his brothers Bryan, 25 and Argyll, 14, as well as her husband Andrew, 39, and all their family and Scott's friends.
Samantha said: "We kept it small, we just wanted to mark it with those closest to us and those who have supported us since we lost him.
"We were joined by mine and Andrews families, our closest friends all of Scott’s closest friends. Scott’s coach Sam, his family and the guys from the gym and the Max Kolbe guys. There was 50/60 people there.
"We just met up at his grave and released the lanterns and balloons. It was nice to be surrounded by all the people who mean so much to us on such a hard day.
"It helped me get through the day massively. No formalities just a bunch of people meeting up chatting about him, sharing stories and supporting each other. It was really lovely.
"Think we managed to get about six lanterns up as it was so windy but we were determined to even get a few. He would have been up there laughing his cheeky we head off at us all."
In the months following Scott's death Samantha set up the Scott Martin Foundation, a charity which aims to support young people through their mental health issues.
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
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