'When he was fighting so hard to get through each day, Sam just couldn't see how he could manage for another four weeks'

INQUEST HEARS HOW DEVOTED DAD AND LOVING HUSBAND DESPERATELY WANTED TO GET BETTER

- By POPPY KENNEDY

A VETERAN Royal Marine Commando, who fought for his life and desperately wanted to get better, was met with a “system that failed him” before he took his own life, his family have said.

Samuel Morgan, who served three tours in Afghanistan, died in November 2024.

The 36-year-old, from Guisborough, had been diagnosed with military-related post-traumatic stress disorder and his loved ones say he spent years reaching out for help.

An inquest, held at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Tuesday, heard how the day before his death, Mr Morgan, a dad of three, had received a letter from Op Courage with an appointment four weeks later.

Reading his statement during the inquest, Mr Morgan's dad Steven Morgan said: “I truly believe that when Sam read that letter, it was just the tipping point. When he was fighting so hard to get through each day, he just couldn’t see how he could manage for another four weeks.”

The inquest heard evidence from a mental health triage nurse at Op Courage, a NHS commissioned service to provide mental health support for armed forces members in the north of England, who spoke to Mr Morgan over the phone for an initial assessment. The triage call followed a referral, made by Mr Morgan's wife Holly, six days earlier.

Mr Morgan told the nurse he had daily suicidal thoughts - sometimes fleeting or more intrusive - but said he had no intention to act on these.

He did not meet the clinical criteria to be placed on the urgent pathway - which would include a referral to the local crisis team - and days later he took his own life in his parent's garden.

Following the two-hour hearing, Paul Appleton, area coroner for Hartlepool and Teesside, found that at the time of the call Mr Morgan did not present in what would be described as a clinical crisis.

“I consider the interventions provided by Op Courage to have been reasonable, including Sam being allocated to the routine pathway,” Mr Appleton said.