Frankie’s death highlighted mental health challenges

It’s more than two months now since well-known back-of-town character Frankie Simmons died.

But his sister, Joanne Dill, is still coming to terms with the loss and the void it has left in her life.

Her door was always open to her elder brother as his behaviour became more erratic and he battled mental illness.

And for many years Ms Dill was the one Frankie turned to for a home and a bed to sleep in.

She told the Bermuda Sun: “We had a very special relationship as children.

“Being the youngest sister he always called on me and he would relate to me.

“He always had a story for me and we spend a lot of our childhood together.

“And as a young man Frankie was handsome, energetic, ambitious, respectful and always willing to help others.”

But Frankie’s life took a turn for the worse after the breakdown of his marriage and the onset of Schizophrenia.

He moved back in with his sister and his mom in Glebe Road while receiving treatment at MAWI.

Ms Dill added: “When Frankie moved back in with my mom and I, it was just like it had been as children.

“And as long as he was up to date with his meds he was okay.

“I do not want people to remember the man he became in later life or think that because he had a mental illness he was always out of it.

“He was not. We had good times together and he made some progress.”

Frankie died in hospital on November 10 at the age of 61 having spent most of the last few years of his life between shelters and walking the back of town with his trolley of rusting and rotting memorabilia.

His passing came just a few days after two good Samaritans found him slumped in a stairwell on Parson’s Road in Pembroke.

“I don’t want to knock the care that he received, I am very grateful to many people who helped Frankie. But I still believe more could have been done to help him,” said Ms Dill.

“It was a big fight to keep him on his meds and it took its toll on me too. Sometimes his shaking was uncontrollable and he would often just turn up at my house looking for a bed.

“I don’t think people realize how hard it can be for the person caring for someone with mental illness.

“It pushed me right to the edge and there was not a lot of support out there.”

She added: “Bermuda needs a better system for dealing the Frankies of this world.

“People like Frankie need constant management and can not be forgotten by the system.

“I watched such a fine young man, with so many talents waste away because of mental illness.

“I hope that no one else has to go through this and something is done to improve the intervention services.”