This article contains information that many people will find upsetting.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.Sinead O’Connor has been taken to hospital by police after tweeting distressing messages after losing her son Shane, who was found dead just a few days ago.
The grieving 55-year-old singer reassured followers that she had been picked up by authorities and taken to hospital an hour after posting the concerning tweets, in which she suggested she was planning to take her own life.
O'Connor's 17-year-old son Shane was on suicide watch at an Irish hospital when he went missing last week. A day later on January 7, the teenager's body was found.
The 'Nothing Compares 2 U' singer has been understandably heartbroken by the loss. But fans were particularly alarmed when she began to talk about following her son in a series of tweets yesterday afternoon, some of which have been deleted.
Per the New York Post, she wrote in the first tweet: "God made me wrong. So I’m sending myself back and I’m finding the [only] person on this earth who ever truly loved me."
In subsequent tweets, she spoke of the blame she was placing on herself for Shane's death, and that she didn't want to be in a world without her son.
In her final tweet, the grieving mother continued to blame herself for her son's tragic death, and that she had decided to "follow" her son.
Fans were unsurprisingly alarmed by the tweets. But an hour later, O'Connor reassured then that she was on her way to the hospital.
"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I am with cops now on way to hospital," she tweeted. "I’m sorry I upset everyone. I am lost without my kid and I hate myself. Hospital will help a while."
She added: "I’m sorry for what I tweeted yesterday. I’m very upset. My son was the love of my life. [...] I am ruined without my son. I am sorry I’ve upset anyone. I’m a t**t."
As you can imagine, the singer's tweets were flooded with supportive messages from fans and others who have felt similar grief.
The Irish singer - who changed her name to Shuhada Davitt in 2018 - has been married four times and has three other children. She shared custody of Shane with Irish folk singer Donald Lunny.
Once again, if you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.