Warning: the following story may be distressing for some readers. If this story raises any issues for you, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. On Australia Day 2015 Angela Grieve losther son to suicide. He was an aspiringrugby league player, just four days awayfrom his nineteenth birthday. Regan, who had a promising future and was surrounded by good friends, didn’t have any history of mental illness. ‘Hindsight is 20/20 and after he passed away there were a lot of things to look back on that made me think “maybe that was a sign”,’ Angela says. ‘But there wasn’t a history with mental health and the first time he tried was the first I became aware that anything was going on.’ Angela doesn’t believe she, or others going through the same ordeal, ever completely come to grips with such sudden loss, saying, ‘I still find myself looking at photos of him and it clicks that he’s never coming home. It’s still hard to believe three years later’. But despite the void his absence has left in her life, Angela is grateful for the time she did have with Regan. ‘We were extremely close and losing him absolutely devastated me, but I quickly came to the Regan’s story realisation that I’m very lucky and thankful to have had almost 19 years with him.’ Angela became a volunteer speaker for Beyond Blue after sharing Regan’s story at a West Tigers’ Charity Ball. She says that, although public speaking was not something she would ever have done Story: Sarah O’Donovan before, ‘when you find a passion for something it becomes easier to do’. ‘I work with Beyond Blue because I found my passion for mental health and spreading awareness for suicide prevention. I’m truly motivated to tell 98 HOUSING NOVEMBER 2018