A special gesture to help raise awareness

AWER Mabil knows it can be easy to feel alone, and he’s witnessed the mental health battles of others.

So when the Socceroos forward was hanging out at home in Denmark with close friend and former FC Midtjylland teammate Pione Sisto — a fellow South Sudanese player — he decided he wanted to create something meaningful to raise awareness.

“I just came up with that,” Mabil said. “From then on, ever since I scored I just did it.”

But the 23-year-old had not spoken publicly about its meaning until now, preferring to wait until the right moment to reveal the mystery behind the unique gesture.

He picked that moment after scoring a peach in yesterday’s 3-2 Asian Cup win over Syria, a result that sends Australia to the tournament’s knockout stages.

The hand covering his mouth, he said, highlights that people suffering should talk about it.

The other hand, a peace sign between his eyes, signifies bringing peace to the mind.

“It’s basically representing standing up for the people who are suffering from mental illness or depression,” Mabil said.

“I want them to know that people do care for them and it’s all in the mind. They need to find someone to talk to, and if I can create anything for them to be aware of and for people to see that people do suffer from this, I’m the first to put my hand up and that’s why I created that.

“It’s to basically show awareness for those people who are suffering from it. We are so lucky as football players to play football, but at the same time there’s a lot of people also suffering from that.

“It’s easy to be alone, especially when you are in football, let’s say you move from Australia to Europe or away from your family.

“It’s easy to be isolated, but there’s people out there who care for you. I have such a family-orientated club in Denmark, who helped me a lot.”