When Burt Kennedy lost mate Dave Graham, he wished he made the call his instinct was telling him to make. Login or signup to continue reading "There's more to this world than we know," said Mr Kennedy, of Maitland. "Two weeks before his passing, I kept feeling like I had to phone him and check in.
"Unfortunately I didn't. Then I had a phone call to say he had passed. I was really upset with myself.
" Mr Kennedy, a long-distance runner, had been training hard at the time as part of his mission to raise awareness of mental health. "The hardest conversation you'll ever have is the one you never got to," he said. "If someone occupied a space in your mind, be sure to let them occupy a space in your day and make time for them.
" Mr Graham, of Nelson Bay, was a high-school teacher and martial arts instructor. He died by suicide in 2020 at age 48. Males are around three to four times more likely to die by suicide than females and they make up three-quarters of all suicides.
"When I had a mate take his life, I took a lot away from that," Mr Kennedy said. "Dave was one of the strongest people I knew, but the strongest people bear the most weight. "Sometimes that weight becomes unbearable.
" Mr Kennedy shared the story of his mate to mark International Men's Day. As a mental health advocate, he said "men need connection". "People underestimate the power of communication sometimes," he said.
Talking to people created lasting connections. "You don't have to ask someone how they're going. But.
