By KATH GANNAWAY
SONYA Weir has lost a partner and a brother to suicide.
As she sets out on a road trip from Lilydale to Port Douglas in January, she has two goals.
She will be raising money to help support organisation The Compassionate Friends, but her main aim through ‘Sonya’s Road Trip – Making A Difference’, is to suicide awareness.
“If a hundred people who are depressed or having thoughts of suicide see the sign-writing on the camper and one person decides to get help … “ the sentence remains unfinished until she gathers her thoughts.
“If just one person sits back and says ‘maybe it’s not worth it’ and doesn’t take their own life, I will have achieved what I set out to do.”
Sonya, a single mum with three children, grew up and works in Healesville.
Six years ago her partner Rob took his own life.
It was a shock.
“I was the last person to speak to him the night before and his last words were ‘it’s all good; talk to you tomorrow’; there was no indication,” Sonya said.
Three years later Rick’s death hit like a bolt of lightning.
He was 36, best described, she says, as ‘a loveable larrikin’.
“He was working in the mines in Mackay, waiting to get his last mining certificate and then he was going back home to Surfers; but that didn’t happen,” she said.
She said Rick, a father of three, was due to get married in a couple of months and while he may have been struggling financially, she says he had the whole world ahead of him.
She says “There are no answers.”
Despite the heartache, or because of it, Sonya is determined to throw out a life-line in whatever way she can to others who are at risk of suicide.
Two years ago she restored a Datsun Ute in memory of Rick, and this year she put her energy and passion into doing up a camper for the road trip which is dedicated to her brother.
It’s hard to miss the message, and that’s just what she wants.
“I learnt at a TCF seminar that males in that age-group are in the highest risk group for suicide.
“I want to get that message out and this trip is the start of many; I want to do a lot more to raise awareness.”
People will be able to donate along the way, or anytime by either phoning Sonya on 0421 378 679 or at the Grand Hotel in Healesville.
Sonya will leave Lilydale on 5 January and arrive in Port Douglas five days later.
In the meantime, she is working on fund-raising events to raise money, and awareness.
For updates go to the Making a Difference Facebook page.
For information on The Compassionate Friends, visit www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au.
Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78 www.mensline.org.au.
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There are about 2200 suicides each year. Eighty per cent are by men, with an average of five men taking their lives every day. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 44, significantly exceeding the national road toll. –Beyondblue.
