Mel Barham

A mother-of-four who lost two children to the same rare genetic condition says the fear of losing another child is "paralysing" as she calls for more research into sudden childhood death. Dr Emily Cooper's two-year-old daughter Isabelle died in September 2024, three years after she lost her three-year-old son Alexander. The family, from Lancaster, did not find out Alexander had the PPA2 mutation until nearly two years after his death, and it was only then they discovered Isabelle also had it.

In the latest episode of From the North we ask should suicide prevention be taught in schools? A teenager who unsuccessfully tried to take her own life says adding suicide awareness to the school curriculum could have helped her understand her feelings. Martha, whose name has been changed, has attempted to take her life multiple times since first noticing she was struggling with her mental health aged just 15.

As I walk through the door of their family home in Manchester, Helen throws her arms around me. From one mother to another we hold each other and she whispers to me “you’re like part of our family now”. The feeling is mutual. I’ve met and interviewed Helen's husband Mike so often, and he has shared with me some of the most intensely private moments of his grief over the last couple of years, that I feel I know this family well. In fact I’ve known them for more than 10 years.