Cornish woman walks 24 hours in memory of brother and great niece
A woman is walking from Bodmin to Perranporth in Cornwall to raise awareness around suicide.
Helen Spacey lost her brother to suicide 33 years ago. Jonathan was 26 when he died.
Helen said: “I was 16 years old at the time and remember him being full of life, a people person. He loved spending time with his young siblings, nieces and nephews and he enjoyed his job caring for children with special needs.
“He loved to entertain people and had worked as a Pontins blue coat but he was particularly passionate about his work as a children's entertainer and was training to be a magician.
“To me he was just my big brother and sadly I never knew the man that he was.”
Just four years ago, Helen’s great niece, Lola, took her own life at the age of 12.
Helen said: “Lola's life had barely begun, yet she brought so much love and laughter to her family.
“Like her great uncle, she was also a people person who was exceptionally caring toward her young cousins.
“She was a large part of her local dancing community, demonstrating an exceptional hard-working attitude with a fearless and determined streak in whatever she decided to do.
“Lola was hugely talented with great potential and had a very bright future ahead of her.
“We are a family with two tragedies, almost 30 years apart raising the same questions that will never be answered.”
Now Helen is taking on a charity walk with Lola’s mum Kirsty, alongside friends Lea Mcarthy and Danielle Warrington.
Helen said: “Lea and Danielle are both good friends of Kirsty's and were close to Lola. They have been caught up in the devastating ripple effect of suicide and have supported their own children through grief after Lola’s death.”
The group set off from Bodmin at 8am on Saturday 25 May, with the aim of finishing in Perranporth 24 hours later.
Money raised will go to Papyrus, a charity for the prevention of suicide.
Helen said: “We want people to know that 33 years after Jonathan’s death, suicide remains the biggest killer of all people under the age of 35.
“We want people to know that 200 children of a similar age to Lola die by suicide every year.
“We want to get people talking about suicide.”
Speaking just before the walk, Helen said: “I wanted to do something a bit out of the box, it had to grab people’s attention. I’m certainly not a runner so a marathon was out of the question.
“Then I realised that actually the best thing you can give to someone that’s struggling is time. For me - it’s one day out of my life, and if one day out of my life can save one other life, then it’s worth it.
“I’m dreading it to be honest. We’re really really excited though, we’ve done lots of training and lots of planning.
“We’ve just got to keep walking!”