A GRIEVING son who lost three close family members in three days has told how he was brought back from the brink of suicide after living on the streets.

Barry May, 50, spent almost seven years working with Southend charity HARP, helping to house vulnerable people and offering a lifeline to those in need.

But after a disastrous week in 2016, during which he lost his mother, father and sister, Barry’s life spiralled out of control.

Barry said: “My dad died on Sunday morning, my mum died on the Monday night, and my sister committed suicide on the Tuesday.

“My sister was three years younger than me at the time - about 45.

“My mum and dad had no insurance for the funeral and I had literally £300 in the bank, I didn’t know how to go about getting help, I didn’t know what to do.

“It built up - I ended up not working and trying to sort out what I was going to do with my mum and dad.

“I can remember the day. It was three days after on Friday afternoon, I remember just going blank. I went up to the doctors but it was too late to get an appointment, I didn’t know what to do.”

Barry says he travelled to Clacton to visit his late sister’s children, aged 13 and 15, and began living out of a hotel.

One desperate night, he tried to take his own life underneath Clacton Pier.

As his money ran out, he spent a week sleeping rough.

He said: “A week went by and I woke up so cold, I was freezing. I thought I need help here – I haven’t eaten for four days and I’ve lost a lot of weight, I looked ten years older than I was.”

Les Nicoll, from Harwich, runs a walk and talk event for isolated people struggling with mental health issues.

Barry was urged to attend and from there Les reached out for help to get him back on his feet.

Barry was introduced to the Colchester charity Emmaus, which offers a stable home and work to homeless people.

On his second day he was offered work as a chef at the charity and a month on, found himself a flat in Colchester and a job painting and decorating.

“It’s the anniversary the time I lost my mum and dad now,” he said. “It’s hard to describe unless you’ve been through it. I feel a bit withdrawn, a bit empty, but now I can cope with it whereas before I couldn’t do anything.

“You can have all help in the world but inside you you’ve got to be the driving force. You’ve got to switch on and go ‘enough is enough’.”