A Wirral mum has spoken of the heartbreak of having her son’s memorial flowers taken by thieves from a bridge.
Wendy Bell’s son, Phillip took his own life at the spot in Seacombe in 2008, aged just 23.
Wendy, 59, from Moreton, told the ECHO how she regularly places flowers at the bridge in memory of her son.
She said: “It was his birthday on the 3rd of July.
“I place flowers there every birthday, every anniversary and every Christmas.
“It [Seacombe bridge] is the only place I feel comfort from.
“We always tie them right at the top and there were three lots of flowers. It’s my way of letting people know that this person they heard or read or knew about who jumped off the bridge was a person that was loved by his family.
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"It’s all I’ve got left to do in memory of my son.”
It was Wendy’s daughter Hayley who discovered the flowers had gone missing when she was walking past a few days ago.
Phillip Bell – known to his family and friends as Philly – took his own life at the bridge on May 6, 2008, after suffering from mental health problems.
He had been living in supported accommodation in Birkenhead to help him with his issues but one day he didn’t return to the centre.
Wendy said: “We didn’t know he had gone missing until I got a phone call the next day to say he hadn’t been in all night and asking if he had been to mine.
“We started looking around the streets for him and everything.
“We asked the police if we could go on the radio and put a shout out.
“And then somebody at work mentioned that somebody had jumped from the bridge and my heart went sick.
“And I thought no, it can’t be. We looked in the paper and the report of the man didn’t match the description of Philly.
“Our Hayley was out looking for him again and I was alone.
“The police knocked on my door a few hours later and broke the news that the man who had jumped off the bridge was my son. That was five days after he had gone missing.
She added: “He was my gentle giant.”
Wendy was so upset when she heard her flowers had been taken she posted on a Wallasey Facebook group to express her anger at what the thieves had done.
She says the response she received has been “overwhelming”.
She said: “I cried all yesterday, you don’t expect a response like that.
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The actions of one group member in particular, Anthony Green, who didn’t know the family, have touched Wendy.
Wendy said: “I will never ever forget Anthony for what he’s done. He’s restored my hope.”
Anthony went up on to Seacombe bridge and put some flowers there to replace the ones that were stolen.
She added: “It had upset him and he said he needed to go and put flowers there.
“I’m going to try and get up there to see them for myself.”
The ECHO contacted both Wirral Council and Merseytravel who are responsible for the bridge.
Both have said that memorial flowers are a common sight in some places and they would never remove them due to the significance to the lives of the people who place them there.
