It's one of the biggest killers of under 35's in the UK and more than 200 schoolchildren are lost to suicide every year. It's something Just Three Mums walking are hoping to change.
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00:00 Michelle, Liz and Kim, just three mums who all lost their sons and are walking nearly
00:06 300 miles to raise awareness of suicide. They were brought together by the prevention charity
00:13 Papyrus. Michelle lives in Sandwich and lost her 17-year-old son Maxie at the beginning
00:19 of 2022.
00:20 I thought, you know what, I will use this as a positive. He was the greatest inspiration
00:25 to me, always will be. I love him more than I ever have, which is possibly not possible.
00:30 My message actually to one and all is that if Maxie did it, it could happen to anyone.
00:35 And that's an alarming fact. People don't want to hear that. I didn't want to hear that,
00:38 but it's happened.
00:40 One family from Staffordshire, one from London and one from Kent, all connected by their
00:47 loss and now by a 265-mile journey joining all three locations.
00:54 Seb was 17, we lost him in November 2021. And if we can save any other families and
01:03 any other young people from feeling like there was no hope and no other alternative, we can't
01:09 do anything to save our boys now, but if we can do something to save other people's children
01:14 and other families, then it has to be worth it, even if it's only one.
01:19 Today they set off from Medway with a 17-mile trek ahead of them.
01:24 They're about five miles into today's walk, but it's absolutely nothing compared to the
01:29 240 these women behind me have done to get to us here in Kent. They've got another 30-odd
01:35 miles to go till they hit that finish line in Sandwich.
01:38 And it wasn't just the trio keeping each other going. Along the way, many have joined their
01:43 journey, often facing similar heartbreak.
01:47 It's been incredibly challenging physically, emotionally, mentally, but so fulfilling.
01:57 And that's largely down to the kindness and the support given to us by people on route,
02:03 a lot of whom we've never met before. They've walked, they've shared their stories with
02:08 us and it's just spurred us on.
02:11 Some nice golfer just gave us £10. So people are just, honestly, people have been really
02:17 receptive.
02:18 And that includes the local MP who came to wave them off this morning.
02:24 I feel very inspired by what the three mums walking are doing. I just think that we need
02:29 to raise awareness in schools. Certainly the schools that I've talked about mental health
02:34 issues are really keen on doing more. They just want to have the tools to be able to
02:39 do so, because it is a sensitive subject and it has to be done by people with a particular
02:44 specialist knowledge and understanding of the impact of those kind of talks, but it
02:47 is something that is very doable.
02:50 Something these three mums will continue to campaign for too, and the thousands of supporters
02:56 they've inspired along the way.
02:58 For advice and help, you can contact Papyrus on their hopeline 24/7 on 0800 068 4141.
03:10 Or on their website www.papyrus-uk.org.
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