Pat Shields

I’m participating in laps for life for the fourth year this March. I have decided to attempt 40kms this year. That means I’m doing 800 laps of freestyle, breaststroke and perhaps some butterfly. Laps for life is a swimming challenge that raises money for ReachOut, an online mental health service for young people in Australia. This is so important to me not only as someone that suffers from mental health issues but also someone that has first hand experienced the loss of way too many mates to suicide, and more personally for me, my best mate nick who took his own life at the end of 2021. I swim for him, my other mates and all of those struggling to exist in this very difficult world. With that being said I urge anyone that is feeling lonely, sad, helpless or depressed to talk to someone. There is help out there, there are people who are more than open to listening and I promise you there is always a better option than the finality of leaving this world forever. you are not bothering anyone by sharing your pain, and I guarantee there are people who would pick listening to your problems every now and then than grieving over them for the rest of their lives. You are loved, you are important and you belong here. Reach Out is dedicated to suicide prevention and I think it’s really positive that they aim to approach the issue starting from a young age because for most people that’s where all these mental health problems start occurring. If we can teach our youth that there is help out there and meet them with the proper services, funding and awareness I believe we can start a new ripple effect that will make people happier as they travel through life. If you want to join me for a swim this April hit me up! I’ll be spending lots of time in the pool and would love to have you join to support. Thank you for your time and remember to give yourself some love.