WARNING:<\/b> This article discusses mental health and suicide.<\/p>\n
When 12-year-old Alisha Rush took her own life late last month, it plunged the nation into mourning and left her family and community struggling to comprehend how a little girl could reach such a devastating point.<\/p>\n
Now, in an exclusive sit-down interview with news.com.au, her grandmother Lana Simpson, who Alisha was living with before she died, has opened up about the final months of Alisha\u2019s life \u2013 including the moments of joy, the warning signs and the devastating tragedy that preceded her death.<\/p>\n
Inside the Morisset home where Alisha spent her final weeks, evidence of the outpouring of grief that followed her death is everywhere.<\/p>\n
Wilting flowers sit alongside stacks of sympathy cards, so many that Mrs Simpson doesn\u2019t know where to put them.<\/p>\n
There are reminders of the 12-year-old everywhere, too.<\/p>\n
The Dino nuggets she loved, dozens of pictures, and the cheeky Kelpie named Rebel that she adored.<\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson laughed as she described an average night in the family home as \u201cbedlam\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlisha didn\u2019t sleep and would go and crawl into the bed of our other night owl (Alisha\u2019s cousin Breannah, 17) and they\u2019d be laughing and carrying on all night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair were often heard giggling as they rustled around the kitchen for late-night cheese toastie supplies.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreannah misses her dearly, we all do,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
Family plagued by suicide <\/b><\/p>\n
Alisha\u2019s father Kurt was 37 when he took his own life, unaware that just 13 months later, he would be joined by his firstborn child.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a family that has lots of mental health (issues) and we have had multiple cases of suicide in our family,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy youngest brother died by suicide 25 years ago, my grandmother died by suicide, along with several other family members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes light up as she recalls Kurt\u2019s chaotic childhood, one full of school truancy, but also pranks and amusement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d drop him at the front gate of the school, take him into the office and then they\u2019d ring me and say, \u2018Kurt\u2019s gone over the back fence\u2019,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n
Kurt went on to become a scaffolder who had \u201ca big heart\u201d and lit up every room he walked into.<\/p>\n
The last time Mrs Simpson saw her son was in her car\u2019s rearview mirror as he entered the grips of what she believes was a psychotic break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember driving away and he was standing on the footpath and I looked in the mirror… That was the last time I saw him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kurt was sectioned by police and taken to the hospital, where he was reportedly seen by mental health staff, a claim Mrs Simpson is wary of accepting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt said on his discharge summary that he was of no harm to himself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot one person from that mental health department followed up during the next week to check on him. They just let him go and told him to follow up with a counsellor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took his life six days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
A safe space to call home<\/b><\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson sinks into the large sofa as she recalls the nights following Kurt\u2019s death. Her glassy eyes move between me and photos of her son that line the television cabinet. <\/p>\n
Alisha had moved to her grandmother\u2019s home in the NSW Hunter region on New Year\u2019s Eve 2025, after spending years bouncing across Sydney and the Central Coast with her mother and father at times.<\/p>\n
The 12-year-old was born in Gosford and had three siblings, the youngest being just three years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlisha would come crawling into my bed to have a cuddle. She\u2019d want her back scratched and we\u2019d talk about her dad,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would tell her, \u2018Your father wasn\u2019t perfect, he was far from perfect. But the one thing he did in this world was be very proud of you kids. He loved you kids and don\u2019t ever let anyone tell you differently. It was not your fault, baby. It had nothing to do with you\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe had issues with depression, he had issues with drugs and he had issues in his relationships that he just couldn\u2019t see his way out of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think at times she actually believed it was her fault,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The day that changed their lives forever<\/b><\/p>\n
Alisha was admitted to John Hunter Hospital by Mrs Simpson, who was gravely concerned for her granddaughter\u2019s health, on a Monday morning.<\/p>\n
Hours later, after being taken into the emergency department where she was conscious and responding to doctors, Alisha was placed into an induced coma and taken to the ICU. She would tragically never wake up.<\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson teared up as she recounted her final words to her \u201cbeautiful\u201d granddaughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said \u2018I love you\u2019, and then I swore at Kurt and told him he couldn\u2019t have her, that it wasn\u2019t her time yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 4am on Tuesday, Mrs Simpson and another family member were flown to Westmead as Alisha\u2019s condition continued to worsen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital staff (at Westmead and John Hunter) were the most amazing team. They did not stop, those girls did 12-hour shifts because they didn\u2019t want to leave her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Nurses told Mrs Simpson they had removed Alisha\u2019s beloved bellybutton piercing, to which she replied, \u201cyou lot are going to be in so much trouble when she wakes up\u201d.<\/p>\n
Alisha was declared dead at 11.58pm.<\/p>\n
Alisha\u2019s final months<\/b><\/p>\n
As we sit in the loungeroom, the neighbour starts blasting Kasey Chambers and Australian country hits through the open windows.<\/p>\n
We burst out laughing, and Mrs Simpson tells me about Alisha\u2019s love of country music.<\/p>\n
Her favourite song was Broken Window Serenade by Whisky Myers, whose lyrics tell of a girl\u2019s tragic spiral into depression and addiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s between that or Black by Pearl Jam,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
Broken Window Serenade was played at Alisha\u2019s funeral alongside a slideshow filled with pictures of her and her father.<\/p>\n
The beat filled the walls of the chapel as mourners placed flowers on top of the pink and white coffin.<\/p>\n
The day prior, Alisha\u2019s school had organised a memorial service with pink balloons and photos of the tween.<\/p>\n
Broken Window Serenade made an appearance again, with Mrs Simpson joking the \u201cwhole of Morisset\u201d could probably hear it.<\/p>\n
Alisha had joined the league team earlier this year, playing for the under-12s Southlakes Roosters.<\/p>\n
She donned the #3 jersey, which has since been retired by the club for the duration of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was long and lanky, she looked like a baby giraffe when she ran,\u201d Mrs Simpson said, smiling as she recalled Alisha\u2019s time on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018I\u2019m a bit scared about getting tackled, nan\u2019, and I said, \u2018well, the only way out of that in football is to run, Alisha\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alisha was no stranger to new schools, and she appeared to fit in perfectly with the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe made lots of friends. She loved to talk to people and was very upfront and open,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Kids in crisis shouldn\u2019t have to wait\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Alisha had been seeing a school counsellor for her mental health, a battle Mrs Simpson says began before she was 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think over the years, she learnt to be who people wanted her to be,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came across like she was full of self-confidence, but when she had the quiet talks with me, she wasn\u2019t full of self-confidence, but she liked to buff herself up and flutter her wings out.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was always in that flight mode. She used to tell me: \u2018I\u2019m so tired of being strong for everybody\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told her \u2018you don\u2019t have to be strong, you\u2019re 12 years old. You\u2019re safe here and nobody\u2019s going to judge you if you want to cry. You want to cry about your dad or you want to cry about your mother or you want to cry because you\u2019re missing your siblings? Do so\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
On June 19, Alisha\u2019s school counsellor made an urgent referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, Mrs Simpson received a call from the government service, which conducted a phone assessment.<\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson said she was told the next available appointment was July 24, three days after Alisha had taken her own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor kids in crisis, they can\u2019t wait five weeks to see anyone,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are pouring their hearts and their souls out via telehealth because they\u2019re in a crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not meaningful when it\u2019s someone on the other end of the phone that you can\u2019t actually visualise or see. There are only ever phone calls, which I don\u2019t think is beneficial to anyone that has severe mental health (problems).\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson described a healthcare system of systemic failure, one that had been crippled by a lack of resources and funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids should not have to wait while in crisis. These children slip through the cracks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The town lacks a designated pediatrician, while the broader region battles months to years-long wait times for psychiatric assistance through the public system. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t even get into the support services, and if you do, they\u2019re unaffordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Simpson\u2019s family may never be the same, but they will do anything to prevent the same tragedy happening to another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two of them would be dancing up there right now and waving to each other from their stars,\u201d Mrs Simpson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlisha would love it, as long as she has her piercings.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for CAMHS told news.com.au a review into Alisha\u2019s care was underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe extend our sincere condolences to the family, friends and school community affected by this tragic death,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are continuing to support the family and our staff during this difficult time. Our School Link Coordinator is providing targeted mental health and wellbeing support to those<\/p>\n
affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a review into the care provided is underway, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alisha\u2019s story is the first in a series of articles for a news.com.au investigation into Australia\u2019s mental health crisis. Over the coming weeks, the stories, deaths and experiences of fellow Australians will be shared in an effort to encourage reform in the mental health sector.<\/b><\/p>\n