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‘Suicide is the number one killer of young men [in Australia] aged 15–24 and is the biggest killer of Australian men under 55,’ NSW MLC Jeremy Buckingham told The Echo.
Having lost his son Eden to suicide last year this is an issue close to Jeremy’s heart and he is supporting two of Eden’s high school friends Max Sandstrom and Jack Mitchel and who are running past Ballina today as part of their 700km run to raise awareness about suicide and money for the beyond Blue foundation.
‘Max and myself lost our mate Eden to suicide in late 2022,’ explains Jack.
‘On a drive back to Bellingen we came up with the idea of doing the run. We thought we’d stop on the way and fish at the bridges. Eden loved being outdoors, camping, and we played sports together. So I rang up Max as I knew he’d be mad enough to do It.’
While fishing along the way hasn’t proven to be an option they are now into their eleventh day of the run.
Max and Jack trained for seven months to prepare for the 700km run from Newcastle to the Gold Coast.
‘We’re doing around 50km a day and have averaged slightly over that,’ said Jack.
‘We’ve done a fair few of 52km days.’
Max had to stop running on Monday as he has torn tendons throughout the back of his knee so he is now finishing the run on a bike following Jack.
Suicide prevention
World Suicide Prevention Day was on September 10 and Jeremy raised the issue raise the issue in parliament through a notice of motion.
‘The theme for World Suicide Prevention Day was hope through action and what the boys are doing embodies that. It is about creating a sense of purpose from what can be overwhelming despair,’ said Jeremy.
‘I’m hopeful that the boy’s actions are raising awareness of this issue and that it helps all of us deal with the grief.
‘Suicide kills more people than the road toll each year but it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.’
Raising money for Beyond Blue
Jack told The Echo that when people are struggling they can’t just ‘put a brave face on it and pretend it is all good’.
‘Your loved ones would prefer to hear what’s happening for you,’ he reminds us all.
Jack and Max aimed to raise $10,000 to donate to Beyond Blue which provides help for people who are struggling. They provide professional 24-hour counselling services for people suffering from anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts.
They have managed to raise over $16,000 so far. If you would like to donate to their cause go to Instagram: #Run4Eden or click here.
So if you are male, and/or white, and/or straight, you are more likely to feel rejected by society, see no future for your life, and give up on existence. Complete mystery that one. Just can’t figure what’s happening or who is causing it. Best just blame the victims.
Not all males are white and straight straight. You would have to drill a bit further down to see which sub groups of male are disproportionately represented. In doing so you might find that it’s not white and straight who are most at risk.
The main thing to be noted is that suicide is tragic in that it generally represents a silent despair and it’s better to look for solutions than to weaponise it for a particular agenda.
Learn what the ‘Intersectional Stack’ is. Straight White middle-class male is the most targeted.
No I think baby boomers are. But like my millennial offspring tell me, we’re fair game because we’re so privileged.
I don’t agree. I don’t like profiling of any kind but that’s beside the point I made about the conclusions you drew from the quoted stats.
You love profiling, you use it all the time on here. Millennials are simply too stupid to properly articulate the many faults of Boomers. I suggested to the No campaign to push for the ballot to be printed in cursive.
I’m not really surprised at these shocking Stats.
But what with the current cost of living, poorer economic conditions, lack of National cohesion, religion in decline, families and genders attacked, constant global warming scares, media bias, rental crisis, Ukraine and looming war in SE Asia etc., I can see why some just loose heart.
Statistically left-wingers are 50% more likely to be angry and unduly pessimistic & thus more vulnerable to this phenomenon.