'I have a picture of Darcy on my bedside table, so she’s the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night. It’s like a physical pain, and I don’t think it will ever go away.' | ✍️ Debbie Hollinson
Here, Debbie shares Darcy’s story and why she is so keen to raise awareness for the charity that helped her family through their darkest time.
Things started when Darcy was about 15, when I noticed she was struggling with social anxiety. I thought it was around school, so I spoke to her teachers, and they were great in trying to accommodate to some of her needs. Then the pandemic happened.Lockdown had a really bad effect on Darcy. She was at that age where teenagers want to socialise, have boyfriends and have some independence, and lockdown took all that away from her.
As her struggles continued, we tried to get her some help through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services , but it was difficult. Because of the pandemic, we couldn’t see anyone face to face. We would have sessions over Zoom but Darcy had problems engaging with people she didn’t know on a video call, so it was really tough to get the right help.In April last year, things got really bad and Darcy began to really struggle. She was moody and withdrawn, and we couldn’t get any help for her.
Many people thought if it could happen to someone like Darcy, it could happen to anyone. It opened conversations, but there’s still stigma to be fought around suicide. If this effort saves one person, that’s great. I just have to keep going. I know it saves people as I’ve had messages from people who have heard Darcy’s story, and they’ve now thought twice about taking their own life. They’ve thanked me for having the ability to speak up about it.In honour of Darcy, and to raise money for PAPYRUS, I’m running a 10k with my best friend Ellie, who lives in Canada, on Sunday May.
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