The ‘Late Late Show’ Last Night Had Everyone’s Hearts Absolutely Broken

Last night’s Late Late Show may have had Ed Sheehan on, but it was an Irish couple who made the biggest impression. 

Fiona and Tim Tuomey are the parents of 11-year-old Milly Tuomey, who tragically took her own life in 2016 – just weeks after posting on Instagram that she had picked the day of her death. 

Last month the coroner’s office returned a verdict of suicide at the inquest into Milly’s death. Milly’s parents had been alerted to her Instagram post by her elder sister and the school, and they took her to see a GP who recommended Milly see a clinical psychologist at An Cuan, a private counselling and psychotherapy clinic. 

The family made an appointment but the psychologist was no longer taking patients, and Milly was assigned to an Art Therapist who was not qualified to deal with the kind of help Milly needed. 

Fiona and Tim bravely talked about their experience of Milly’s death to try to raise awareness 

“The main reason we wanted to come on and talk to people was to really get across the message that you don’t know. People think of depression as a big glaring sign across somebody’s forehead.

“That is not necessarily the case.”

“The main reason we wanted to come on and talk to people was to really get across the message that you don’t know. People think of depression as a big glaring sign across somebody’s forehead… That is not necessarily the case” – Fiona Tuomey #latelate pic.twitter.com/uEvIgQesKg

— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 15, 2017

Their interview had viewers in tears as they spoke of Milly and remembered her as a “unique character” who was funny and mischievous 

“We had a conversation and had a chat with her to try and find out was there something behind it, was it serious, was it looking for attention,” Fiona said.

“There’s no preparation for something like that. She didn’t dismiss it and she was a little evasive about it. That didn’t provide me with assurance one way or the other. I didn’t know what to make of it.”