Aussie boxing world champ Jeff Horn to fight for Dolly
THE tragic suicide of bullied Territory teen Amy “Dolly” Everett has champion Aussie boxer Jeff Horn fired up to take on a new kind of fight – and it’ll be one of his toughest yet.
Horn, who was also tormented by bullies as a teen, said it was time the nation rallied to condemn the vicious bullying faced by kids, and to end the senseless waste of young lives.
He said he was willing to front a campaign to end the suffering of bullied children. Dolly, a kind-hearted Katherine girl who adored animals and was once the cheeky face of Akubra hats, was only 14 when she took her life last week.
THE tragic suicide of bullied Territory schoolgirl Amy “Dolly” Everett has champion Aussie boxer Jeff Horn fired up to take on a new kind of fight – and it’ll be one of his toughest yet.
Horn, who was also tormented by bullies as a teen, said it was time the nation rallied to condemn the vicious bullying faced by kids and to end the senseless waste of young lives.
He said he was willing to front a campaign to end the suffering of bullied children.
Dolly, a kind-hearted Katherine girl who adored animals and was once the cheeky face of Akubra hats, was only 14 when she took her own life last week, a decision her dad described as a desperate attempt to “escape the evil in this world”.
Dolly had been attending boarding school in Queensland – Horn’s home state.
The NT has Australia’s highest rate of suicide. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 18.7 people die by suicide for every 100,000 Territorians.
Horn said he was upset to learn of Dolly’s story, particularly after welcoming his first child, daughter Isabelle, on December 30.
“I was quite sad about it because I’ve been through (bullying) myself,” he said.
“After just having a daughter, to imagine if she was to be bullied and taken from us at that age, would be extremely devastating. It hits home for us even more than it would have in the past, now that we have a little girl. We’re so very sad for Dolly’s family. We need to do something to bring an end to this.”
Horn can draw on his own experiences with bullies, who began targeting him when he was 12. It continued for years.
His mother has previously spoken of how the vicious physical and verbal abuse caused her son to have thoughts of suicide. Horn said he shuddered to think of how kids today coped with cyberbullying, as it meant there was no escape.
He said if social media had existed when he was a teenager, his bullying would have been “10 times worse”.
“I can remember the physical things that happened, like people punching me in the side of the head while I wasn’t looking. That type of thing happened but also the constant name-calling was hard.
“Certain people would just constantly niggle at you and say something under their breath when you were going past or just always making everyone aware that you were there and say something stupid so everyone laughed at you.”
Horn pleaded with Australian kids suffering at the hands of bullies to seek help.
“Talk to someone and stay strong. There’s lots of avenues today for kids to go ... get help,” he said.
Dolly’s family is establishing a charity, Dolly’s Dream, to help raise awareness about bullying, anxiety, depression and youth suicide. Horn has offered a pair of signed boxing gloves in a fundraising effort for it. Before she died, Dolly drew a picture of a dancing girl with the words “speak even if your voice shakes”.
Katherine Outback Experience owner and singer Tom Curtain, who knew Dolly, has turned the words into a song.
“It really sort of hit home with me so I wrote a song based on that, not only about bullying but also the people, the passers-by, the people who are looking on in such events like bullying. Maybe that could make a difference down the track for future instances,” he said in his Facebook video.