HOW IT FEELS AS A SOCIAL WORKER
WHEN YOUR CLIENT DIES
I
remember it well; sitting at my desk, working late, the last one in the office, when the phone rang. I Matt Bee was reluctant to answer it. It was late and I wanted to go home too.
As a longstanding social worker who cut his teeth on a hospital ward, and even saw a patient die right in front of him while on placement as a student, I ALWAYS ASSUMED I HAD DEVELOPED THE RESILIENCE TO DEAL WITH CALLS LIKE THIS.
Over the years numerous people have died on my caseload. Most were The next minutes have stayed with me elderly and chronically sick, so it was ever since. Even now I can remember the call vividly, right down to the feeling not unexpected. Sometimes it was a relief, given the suffering. But some of disbelief when the parent told me, deaths came out of the blue – like this. remarkably calmly, that their 28-yearold son – my client – had killed himself. This death was different. My client, They had just wanted to let me know. *Jack, had been doing so well. As I
spoke with his mother on the phone, numb in shock, I glanced over at a card received from Jack just days before, saying thank you for all my help. I still have that card today. In hindsight, I now realise it may have been his way of saying goodbye. But it hadn’t felt like it at the time. It had felt like he’d turned a corner. MAYBE THAT’S WHAT WAS SO HARD TO ACCEPT. HE WAS YOUNG, WITH SO MUCH AHEAD OF HIM. HE HAD BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH. We had spent many hours talking candidly about his life and the
