2023 was a year that changed my life. On 23rd January we lost my amazing, funny, loving father to suicide. I cannot begin to put in words the devastation this has had not only on us as a family but to many who were lucky enough to know my father. Growing up I was always a Daddy’s girl and I don’t know that I will ever truly find peace again.

15 people die by suicide in the UK every week – with 75% of those deaths being male. I naively never thought that our family would form part of this statistic.

Since loosing my Dad I have learnt how hard it is to get mental health support and hope that in some small way I can help that. My Dad made many sacrifices in his life to give me a beautiful life and I can’t think of any way to better honour that then to try to help someone else from the heartbreak of suicide bereavement.

Although nothing could ever have been more painful than loosing my Dad I was unfortunate enough on 30th July to fall down the stairs holding my nephew (Raffi) and suffered a trimalleolar break resulting in surgery - Raffi survived without a mark or knock to him! I had surgery to rebuild my ankle using two plates and fourteen pins so have spent the remainder of 2023 learning to walk again so although 10km would not have been far for me last year this is quiet a challenge after learning to walk again!

I hope that none of you will ever know the complicated and heartbreaking grief that comes from the suicide of someone who was your rock but I hope you can help me find something positive from my pain.