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Pain of loss still too raw for family of teenager
Paul Whitehouse TODAY would have been the 18th birthday of Carina Stephenson who took her life earlier this year after visiting suicide websites but her family will not mark the occasion because her loss is still too painful.
Carina died in the spring and after her death it emerged she had been using a laptop computer to access internet websites which advocated suicide and also visiting chatrooms where she conversed with others who were contemplating suicide.
The technique she used to kill herself, near her family's home in the Doncaster village of Branton, was identical to that demonstrated on a website she was known to have viewed.
Her mother, Liz Taylor, is now campaigning for a legal change to restrict access to such sites and her actions are supported by the Yorkshire Post.
She has collected more than 4,000 signatures demanding Government action, though at present the Home Office insists a voluntary agreement with internet service providers would be adequate.
Last night she said: "We are not doing anything in particular for her birthday because every day is terribly painful for us, so to sit down and have a special meal would only compound the difficulty we have in getting through life without Carina.
"It still goes on for us, every day, although other people might only see it appearing in the news every once in a while. It still seems like it only happened yesterday."
The family had taken part in the reality television show Castaway, living in Australia for six months, before returning to Doncaster shortly before Carina's death.
Before that, she had planned to celebrate her 18th birthday with a friend, who had her birthday a few weeks earlier.
Carina's parents went to that party and found the event "therapeutic" because they met many of the teenagers who they would have expected to be present to help their daughter celebrate.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
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Wind direction: North west
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Sunny spells
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