'My son endured years of bullying. His last words were for the kids who broke him.'

The worst days of Jodie Carter's life started when she noticed an open door.

Call it a mother's instinct, but she immediately knew it was her 12-year-old son who left the backdoor to their Sydney home "wide open." She went upstairs to check Hamish's bedroom, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"It looked like he was in bed, but when I patted the bed he wasn't there. I had this sort of sick feeling," Jodie told Mamamia.

She frantically searched the house, asked her two daughters and husband if they'd seen Hamish, but they hadn't.

When she checked "Find My iPhone", her heart stopped.

"His phone was in the bush at the end of the street," she said.

Jodie tore out of the house, jumped in the car and raced to the end of the road.

When she arrived, she made a discovery that made her blood run cold.

"I looked over and I could see his jacket on a rock," she said. "I just went 'oh my f—— god' and ran over and was calling his name hysterically."

A crowd started gathering. The police were called, and, after hours, Jodie received the news no parent wants to hear: "We have found your son's body — he is deceased."

"It was the beginning of the worst days of our life," she said.

"We were stunned and shocked.

"The next day they (the police) came and picked us up and took statements, and the next day after that, we had to go to the coroner's and view his body."

Jodie wants Australia to know about her "clever and beautiful" son, to prevent the same pain she and her family have experienced from touching any others.

Hamish as a baby. Image: Supplied.

A relentless campaign.

Hamish was the victim of a relentless campaign of bullying that started when he was in Year 1.

Jodie believes Hamish was targeted because he marched to the beat of his own drum.

"He was a bit nerdy, he wasn't the popular kid … he wasn't the sporty kid. He was the alternative kind of kid, he was really into ancient history, he was super clever, into gaming," she said.

Jodie explained that in Year 1 the bullying started with "little things" that were designed to "poke" at Hamish and force a reaction. The children would take Hamish's belongings off him, like hats and pens, and refuse to give them back. They would say "nasty things" about his sisters, so he'd defend them.

"They'd do things when the teacher wasn't looking and then the teacher would turn around and see Hamish had retaliated," Jodie said.

"The more he lashed out, the more they did it, and then he just got suspended all the time."

When Hamish started getting in trouble, it was suggested to Jodie that he might be on the autism spectrum. She was encouraged to get a diagnosis, so she did just that.

"They said there was nothing wrong with him, that he was suffering trauma from being severely bullied, and he had to be protected," she said.

Jodie "tried so many different things" to help Hamish.

She took him to occupational therapy, enrolled him in karate and scouts. He saw various counsellors. She also advised the school to put Hamish in different classes.

The last photo Jodie ever took of Hamish. Image: Supplied.

Nothing worked.

Jodie even contemplated moving Hamish to a new school, but by the time she had made that decision, Hamish had been suspended so many times, other schools wouldn't take him.

Jodie hoped high school would prove to be the fresh start Hamish needed.

It wasn't. Things only got worse.

"The technology stuff started when he got to high school," Jodie said, explaining Hamish was being sent videos and memes referencing suicide.

"The more he looked at, the more he got sent," she said.

"They should not be able to have devices at school. The phones, — no. They can't get away from it."

Hamish's final message to his bullies.

Before he died by suicide, Hamish left a message for his bullies on his phone.

Jodie said detectives told her about the video message after they took Hamish's devices, but she told them she wasn't ready to hear it.

"I don't remember that," she said, adding she became aware the message was there as she was preparing a report for the coroner this year.

"It was dark, you couldn't actually see his face, but you heard him say something along the lines of, 'they said I was a p—-y and that I would never do it and I was never strong enough to do it before, but I'm strong enough to do it now. So f — k you p — ys see you in hell,' I think he said, and he went.

"It's so f——d up."

Looking back on things, Jodie said Hamish's behaviour changed in the months and weeks leading up to his death.

Hamish was 12 years old when he died. Image: Supplied.

The night before he died was the first day of the summer holidays and the family had sat down for dinner. Jodie says her children were being silly and cheeky with one another and it "was a really nice night."

"He had gone from just this gorgeous little boy to quite sullen, sad, serious a lot of the time," Jodie said.

"But the few weeks just beforehand … he had decided he wanted to go back to karate. He seemed to be a bit happier in some things," she recalled.

"He was coming for walks and things with me, or went out with me a few times … before he would just be like 'I don't want to go'. We went into Cronulla, and we got frozen yoghurt, and he would chat to me and stuff … he seemed to be pretty happy.

"It was just this weird thing, like he had already made that decision and was working up to that somehow."

'There's a lot of work that needs to be done.'

Jodie said her family still have "a lot of sad times" but through the pain she has found a new mission; she will dedicate the rest of her life to improving how schools respond to bullying.

She wants to eventually start speaking at schools, if she can.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done," she said.

"I want to talk to every single kid in every school in Australia if I can, and parents and teachers and train parents and teachers. Tell them our story, how real it is, and get through to those bullies.

"My counsellor said 'you could still be a mum to Hamish and do something for him and speak up for him'," Jodie explained.

Jodie journals regularly and says it's one way she's been trying to process what happened. Image: Supplied.

Jodie says she has been overwhelmed by responses from parents in similar positions since she started sharing Hamish's story.

Her message is a simple one.

"Trust your instincts, listen to your gut and your heart. If they're being bullied go change schools," she said.

"If I had my time over, I so, so wish I had taken him out right from the beginning. He would run away from school and come home, and I would take him back, and it's like, why was I doing that?"

Jodie also wants Hamish's bullies to learn one thing from what happened; remember kindness.

"If they could understand how much damage that actually did and think twice before you go and do something like that … if that was your brother or sister or your mum or your dad, how would you feel if someone was doing that to them? It's not ok."

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact your GP or in Australia, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7.

If you have been bereaved or impacted by suicide loss at any stage in your life, StandBy is a free service you can access on 1300 727 247.

Feature Image: Supplied.