Parents Successfully Raise $12,000 For Lifeline In Remembrance Of Son

After losing their 18-year-old son six years ago, Tanya
and David Broomhead decided to mark the anniversary of his
death by raising $12,000 for Lifeline, a service they
believe could have saved his life if he’d reached
out.

Ethan

Tanya
Broomhead has walked 6km or more every day for the last
month to mark the sixth anniversary of her son Ethan’s
death, and to raise awareness of mental health. Her husband
David has joined her for many of these walks, both of them
wearing specially printed t-shirts that were Ethan’s
favourite colours – blue and orange.

As part of Mental
Health Awareness Week, they wanted to promote awareness of
how important it is to open up and talk about how people are
really feeling. They also want to let people know that
suicide can affect anyone and it’s important to talk about
it because in many ways, it is still a hidden
disease.

Tanya Broomhead says Ethan’s death
blindsided the family and “was a massive shock to everyone
who knew him and his school community. We were left with
lots of questions that will never be answered, the biggest
one being what did we do wrong?

“Ethan was a
warm-hearted, fun-loving boy who was always laughing, always
willing to help and be there for his friends when they were
going through a tough time. He was a loving, supportive big
brother to Brooke, always looking out for her. He was calm
and level-headed and loved sport, people, and woodwork.
It’s important to me now to keep his name alive and hear
his name spoken. I want people to talk to me about
him.

“As well as marking the anniversary of his
death, our other main focus has been fundraising for
Lifeline, an organisation that works to prevent suicide so
that fewer people will go through what we’ve been through.
Hopefully this money will help save someone’s
life.”

Lifeline Operations Manager Helena de
Fontenay says working at Lifeline, you can see how important
a phone call or a text is for someone – it can actually save
a life.

Lifeline receives around 10,000 calls and
receives and sends 30,000 texts every month from people in
distress. We support on average 15 to 20 people at high risk
of suicide every day.

To donate to the Broomheads’
cause visit:
lifeline-aotearoa.grassrootz.com/fundraise-for-lifeline/ethan-6-to-6

About
Lifeline

Lifeline Aotearoa is all about giving hope
and saving lives. It’s what our health professionals and
trained volunteers do every day of the year. Lifeline
receives around 10,000 calls and receives and sends 30,000
texts every month from people in distress. We support an
average of 15 to 20 people at high risk of suicide each
day.

Lifeline supports all ages across our phone and
text services, with text being the most popular way to get
support for those under 30-years-old.

The most common
issues people talk to us about are loneliness and isolation,
relationship difficulties, clinical mental health issues,
anxiety and depression and suicide.

With no Government
funding, Lifeline is reliant on donations from the public
and support from New Zealand business. The more support we
receive, the more calls we can answer.

To make a
separate donation to Lifeline, visit: https://www.lifeline.org.nz/donate/

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