A three-week suicide prevention walk spanning the 700 kilometres between Beechworth and Sydney Harbour stopped by Wagga on Friday.
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The Beechworth to Bridge walkers set off on Easter Saturday and are on track to make it to Sydney by April 21.
While they walk and talk, the Beechworth to Bridge team are also on a mission to stamp out the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health.
President and organiser Lisa Cartledge said she and her band of loyal walkers had a great day walking in Wagga, racking up 35 kilometres throughout the day.
“We made up the 35 kilometres walking around Bolton Park and the streets of Wagga, and we had lots of toots and waves from passersby throughout the day,” Ms Cartledge said.
“We’re just doing what we can to reduce the shame around suicide and mental health.”
Now seven days in to the 700-kilometre walk, Ms Cartledge said there were some sore feet in the group, but their spirits still remained high.
“Everyone’s good – we’ve got a few blisters, so I had to do an emergency dash to the physio to get some special thongs so I could walk with some more support,” she said.
“We’re staying at the William Farrer Hotel, and someone generously donated six massages for us to use tonight.”
The identity of Wagga’s very generous massage donor is still unknown, as they wished to remain anonymous.
Ms Cartledge told The Daily Advertiser the idea for the walk came from her own experience of losing loved ones to depression.
“I lost my uncle to suicide in the early 70s, and all that I knew what that uncle wasn’t coming home – nobody really said how or why,” Ms Cartledge said.
“Then, in 1986, I lost my dad to suicide just before my 18th birthday, and I spent the next 30 years being very aware of the elephant in the room and the awkwardness of other people when you said your father died by suicide.
“In 2014, my husband took his life very unexpectedly, and I thought ‘my kids are not going to live with the elephant in the room’ and not being able to say their dad’s name without other people becoming uncomfortable.”
Ms Cartledge said she’s hoping to talk with as many people as possible during the rest of her walk.
“We’re not counsellors, we’re just people with lived experience, and we’re just happy to listen and talk to anybody who wants to meet with us,” she said.
“I had an elderly lady come up to me on Saturday and say her husband died 40 years ago from suicide but she had never been able to talk about him until now.”
The next stop on their long walk to Sydney is Junee.