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Paige Berdal

I'm swimming to save lives

  • This is my first year diving

  • in for youth mental health
Did you know suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia? That means that each year more young people die by suicide than in car accidents or from cancer. This March, I'm swimming to make sure young people in Australia have the mental health support they urgently need. By sponsoring my challenge, you’ll be helping to prevent youth suicide. All funds raised will help young people feel better about today and the future, no matter what challenge they're facing.

Why i’m fundraising for laps for life

*** Trigger Warning I was inspired to do this swimming challenge after we Damien Andreou and I lost our friend and neighbour late last year. If we’d known he was in trouble, if the @wa_police who arrived to do the welfare check after his boss called them had told someone close to him before they left - got a friend or neighbour to stay with him, keep him company and to talk to him - we would have been there around the clock. They walked away after he told them he was fine, and he was gone within the hour. The way mental health welfare checks are handled need to improve, it has become too commonplace and workers in this field have become complacent. His farewell was both the most awful and beautiful ceremony attended by hundreds of people who cared for this man. He was loved, he wasn’t alone, but he is now missed by so many. Seeing his nieces and nephews at that funeral was absolutely heartbreaking. And there were no warning signs. If only we knew. Look out for your friends and neighbours people, you may be the one who is able to save their life.

A problem with no answer

Taking part in @lapsforlife.aus to raise funds for @reachout_aus to provide mental health services for young people had made me think a lot about the suicide rate in Australia. It’s not just young people, it’s people of all ages. Men and women. And for all sorts of reasons, some leave us wondering why and we’ll never know the answer. More can be done to help prevent these people from slipping through the net and being lost to us forever. Their families and loved ones left behind devastated with nothing but their memories and an empty space in their hearts once occupied by that person. Sometimes it can happen without warning, but we need to keep our eyes and ears open and be there for those who are struggling. Maybe with an offer of some company at a dark time or helping them to get the support they needed, some of these people could have been saved. Maybe we can all do a bit better at looking out for one another. If you are struggling, please reach out xx

The absence of you

I lost a good friend to suicide at the age of 24. I was overseas when I got the call. It was an impulse decision he made after an argument with his partner that would impact his family and close friends forever. I was in shock, and deeply saddened. It was one of the worst feelings in the world and I cried for days. I just couldn’t get used to the idea that I would never see him again. He was a truly unique person, he thought differently, had an intelligent sense of humour and there was no one in the world like him, and there never would be again. The future of us being a pair of silly, zany old people would never happen and I would have to go on and live my life without him in it. Doing this fundraiser has made me think a lot about J. and how much better my life might have been if he had been part of it, what wonderful moments we never got the chance to share as we grew up, the laughs out loud hat never happened because he wasn’t there. I wasn’t the only one devastated by this loss, he had so many friends and we were all in pain. Laps for Life has made me think about how many other people in Australia have felt the impact of losing a close friend or loved one to suicide and how I want to do what I can to prevent as many people from experiencing this level of pain and sadness and the big black hole in your heart that will never be filled once this person is gone. Reachout aim to support young people through difficult times, to prevent as many people as possible from feeling the way I did. Each and every individual on this planet is special, unique and irreplaceable. There has never been a person like you, and there will never be another you again. My hope is that every young person realises this and just how special and important they are to someone, and how much they will be mourned and missed by those who love them if they decide to leave. Reachout aims to help these young people to navigate their way through life’s challenges and emerge into adulthood stronger and more resilient to meet them head on. The more young people who can be saved from making the devastating decision to take their own lives, the better for them, as well as their family, friends and loved ones.

Please Help Me
Reach My Goal

Raised

$1,381

My Goal

$1,000

Select amount to donate

$52
$89
$128
$245
$245
$540
$756
$1000
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My Swim Progress

I've swum

15.00km (40 laps)

My Goal

15km

How do you compare to other participants?

Average Distance Swum: 9m

Average Distance Goal: 16KM

My Impact

So far this year I helped provide...

345

Young people with vital mental health support.

Fundraising Progress

Raised

$1381

My Goal

$1,000

So far, you’ve raised 138% of your fundraising goal!

Raised

$0

My Team Goal

$0

So far, you’ve raised nan% of your fundraising goal!

Raised

$3,658,702

All Goal

$3,600,000

So far, you’ve raised 102% of your fundraising goal!

Thank you to my Sponsors

Life-Saving Donation

$500

Anonymous

You've got this

Life-Saving Donation

$398

Anonymous

Life-Saving Donation

$255.54

Daniel Stainton

Best of luck Pauge! Super proud of you! Keep going girl!

$54.12

Aleks Henderson

Awesome work Paige. Well done 🫶🏼❤️

$43.60

Ryan TURNER

Awesome effort from a good friend

$40

Anonymous

I'm doubling my impact today!

$27.81

Trish Van Der Loo

$21.10

Paige Berdal

$21.10

Matched by Reef Shark Foundation

$20

Damien Andreou

go girl