Help me stand up against suicide and self-harm.
I'm taking part in Darkness Into Light 2024, on Saturday, May 11th at sunrise to raise vital funds for people affected by suicide and self-harm.
Pieta have partnered with like-minded charities across the globe to continue to help provide life-saving services for those who need it.
Thank you so much for your support.
My Challenges
Created Fundraising Page
Added a Profile Picture
Shared Fundraising Page
I received my first donation
Donation Target Reached
My Updates
The Third Time
The third time I lost someone to suicide, it was summer 2022, and he was a man I had been friends with a long time. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but he left an indelible print on my life (even having a hand in the way I met André), and I still regularly attend events where he should just BE, and isn’t anymore. He was the first person to be there for his friends, but he lost a long-standing, private, battle with loneliness.
When I walk in the Darkness Into Light 5km walk/run, I will be walking for Kurt; for the clever, quiet man, with the bawdy sense of humour, whose company I always enjoyed, against the despondency he couldn’t see an end to.
The Second Time
The second time I lost someone to suicide, I hadn’t even had a chance to meet them. My eldest brother Gerry, who I was not in a position to have met until almost 2 decades later, stayed late at work one night to help a friend work on his car, and then took his own life. He had faced a lot of challenges, engaging in an extended, but private, battle with his demons, and ultimately, he chose not to reach out for help.
When I walk in the Darkness Into Light 5km walk/run, I will be walking for Gerry; for the brother I didn’t get to meet, against the illness he didn't let anyone help with.
The First Time
The first time I lost someone to suicide, I was 20. Dee was my boyfriend's aunt, and she had been going through an incredibly tough time, as we watched the veneer fall from what we all had assumed to be a perfect life and a perfect marriage.
She fought a quiet battle to regain a sense of self, with very few people around her recognizing her herculean struggle, and even fewer of us being in a position trusted enough to guide her to the resources she might have needed to survive the fight. Eventually, Dee was beaten by an overwhelming sense of failure, loneliness, and the stigma of asking for help in her stage of life/social standing, and mental illness took my friend.
When I walk in the Darkness Into Light 5km walk/run, I will be walking for Dee, and for the light I couldn't help her see, against the illness she didn't want anyone to see.
