Yorkshire Vet star Grace Olson attempted suicide after 'hideous' ordeal

23 June 2024 , 10:15

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Grace Olson has since recovered from the incident

The Yorkshire Vet star Grace Olson admits a cruel bully "filled her life with fear" and they eventually drove her to a suicide attempt as a teenager.

The TV star opened up about the horrifying ordeal she faced as a youngster, revealing that she was cruelly targeted by one of her classmates from the age of seven to 14. Olson, who is now a children's book author and regularly appears on the Channel 5 farming show The Yorkshire Vet, says that although she'd been popular in school, she struggled to befriend a particular girl who she had desperately tried to impress.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Post, she said: "I was a very sensitive person, I was one of the most popular people in the school and had loads of friends – but a girl at school just didn't like me, and I was so soft-natured that I wanted to appease her. My mother was amazing and very loving but overprotective. I wasn't taught how to stand up for myself and I was filled with fear every morning before school.”

Grace Olson is now a children's book author and regularly appears on The Yorkshire Vet

Grace Olson reveals she attempted suicide after 'hideous' ordeal

Grace, now 50, admitted that she found it hard not to take the bully's words to heart due to being a "sensitive person." The author went on to recall how she would wake up with a feeling of dread in the mornings and felt she had no choice but to take her life. After returning home from school one day, Grace says she had "swallowed a whole bottle of painkillers and went upstairs to my room to lie down to die."

"It was like I snapped. I just walked home and very calmly I swallowed a whole bottle of painkillers and went upstairs to my room to lie down to die. Then suddenly this voice within me said: ‘You have got to sort this out,'" she recalled.

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Grace admits she told her neighbour about the incident as she "didn't want to die." Her neighbour then called the ambulance and Grace was rushed to the hospital. She had to have her stomach pumped and a psychiatrist. She admits she was able to confide in her mother and felt terrible she had opened up to her sooner.

She said: "I told the lady across the road and she called an ambulance. I had to have my stomach pumped and see a psychiatrist. My poor mother was not aware of me being bullied or how bad I was feeling – it was just hideous.”

*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.

Ayaan Ali