http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/michael-mansfield-hillsborough-families-were-11262985#ICID=FB-Liv-mainMichael Mansfield: Hillsborough families were my rock after my beloved daughter took her life 
Hillsborough barrister Michael Mansfield QC spoke of his debt to the families for the support they gave him after his daughter took her life.
On May 1, 2015, Mr Mansfield had been due to question former Merseyside chief constable Norman Bettison
But that morning the lawyer, who has been involved in high profile cases including the Bloody Sunday inquiry and the inquest of Princess Diana, discovered that his 44-year-old daughter Anna had committed suicide.
He told the ECHO: “I owe a debt to the Hillsborough families because in a sense they became my family.
“I think without their support things would have been even more difficult.
“They understand about sudden loss and how you deal with it far better than most people.
“They were incredible and very understanding.
“It made a big difference.
“I probably wouldn’t have been able to carry on quite so quickly without them.”
He added: “If you can stand together you can help each other and that’s how I survived.
“I’ve taken that from earlier cases as well, the Bloody Sunday inquiry, the Stephen Lawrence family, the Marchioness, they have all seen some kind of solidarity.
“You learn that you’re not an island as a person, we do depend on each other and there’s nothing wrong with that, we shouldn’t be embarrassed about it.”
Since Anna’s death Mr Mansfield has set up Silence of Suicide (SOS) - an initiative to provide forums for people to speak about the subject.
He told the ECHO he thinks he has changed as a person since the inquests started in March 2014.
He said: “I feel a little more raw than I was.
“You just can’t go on day after day protecting yourself and putting up barriers, you can’t do that.”
Mr Mansfield first started working with the families in about 2008.
He said: “It was at a stage before Andy Burnham spoke at the 20th anniversary so it was a time when, although hope springs eternal, the families were feeling fairly isolated in one sense because every time they turned anywhere they were rejected.
“My only role or function could be to keep the flame alive. I’ve done a lot of these cases and I know in the end, if you persist and you’ve got strength and collectivity, in the end you do succeed, but it takes a lot of everybody to give that kind of support.”
Through the course of the inquests he was involved in questioning a number of key witnesses, including match commander David Duckenfield, who admitted his failings caused the 96 deaths.
Mr Mansfield said: “We’re used to seeing witnesses behave in ways we don’t and can’t predict.
“What I found unfortunate was that it hadn’t happened before.
“This could have contributed to the healing process, if he had been prepared to do what he did in the witness box 25 years ago.
“That would be my pertinent observation. It was really unfortunate.”
He said beginning the inquests with the 96 personal portraits of the victims had been unique to the process.
He said: “Every single portrait was different, even though the impact was the same - never to be forgotten, memories never erased, lives really turned upside down, still turned upside down. This hasn’t been forgotten and people are still living it every single day. People need to know that.
“We got to know the families that way and it was a novel situtation to have that facility.”
He added: “It puts the families at the heart of the inquest from the beginning, the person is no longer a number and we can picture where they lived, how they lived and why they lived”
The lawyer said he found the attitude of some of the medics who gave evidence to the inquests “extraordinary”.
He said: “There were notable instances where they absolutely didn’t get it, they were there, often having to save lives, walking past pens where people were being crushed to death and they walked straight past.
“It is one thing to be constantly critical of the police but here were members of the medical profession not performing the role they were expected to perform.
“There was one witness in particular who had walked past as if nobody was shouting for help.”
He added: “Then of course you watch the film at the same time and you can see people’s faces up against the wire fence.
“You can never ever erase that. I don’t think that’s an image that will ever leave me.”
Mr Mansfield paid tribute to the members of the jury.
He said: “I think their stamina is a tribute to the jury system.
“They are ordinary people and I’m sure they didn’t appreciate how long it would take and how searing it is for them to have this sea of emotion on a daily basis.”
