Community in shock

The islanders in North Uist, 70 miles south of here, are in shock after a boy of 15 was found hanging in his bedroom earlier in the week. He was a budding sportsman, who was even signed on as a pro. No indications that anything was amiss were spotted. He last amended his homepage on the day he died with the lyrics from a popgroup. I will neither name nor quote. Sufficient to say, having read the words in the regional paper on Saturday, that they could bring someone to the extreme.

Uist is a community spread over a handful of islands, extending 40 miles from Berneray in the north to Eriskay in the south. Total population is 5,000. It has had its unfair share of adversity in recent years. The hurricane of January 2005 severely damaged the causeways linking individual islands, and swept 5 people to their deaths when their car was swamped by a tidal surge on one of the causeways. It says enough that the funerals were attended by 1,500 people - nearly one third of the populace. The damage to the infrastructure has still not be fully repaired. Had this occurred in central Scotland or England (remember the hurricane of October 1987?), the damage would have been repaired within weeks or months. Not in little Uist.