Out of the darkness into light
THOUSANDS TOOK PART IN THIS YEAR’S DARKNESS INTO LIGHT WALKS AT FOUR LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY
AROUND 7,000 people across the county got up in the middle of the night last Friday to take part in the Darkness into Light walks for suicide prevention charity Pieta House.
In Sligo town alone, more than 4,000 walkers took to the streets reaching JFK Parade by the Garavogue river just in time for sunrise.
Organiser and Chairman of the event Corey Whyte was delighted with the turnout: “We held walks in the town, Banada Abbey, Ballymote and for the first time this year Dromore West.”
As for the few late night revellers along the route, Corey explains that the group had a few extra t-shirts which they handed out allowing them to join in.
Darkness into light is celebrating its 10 th anniversary and is a concept the Irish have exported abroad, as Corey says: “It started in the Phoenix Park in Dublin with just 400 people. It has now gone international with tens of thousands walking all over Ireland and in New York, San Francisco and Australia.”
The 5k walk charity event is about more than just raising vital funds. It is also a chance for people who have been touched by suicide or mental health difficulties to come together to support each other.
Chairman Corey Whyte has direct experience of suicide after his favourite uncle Dominick Whyte (43) from Sligo passed away in 2009.
He recalls: “It was very sudden and out of the blue. Suicide was such an odd concept and so abstract to me back then. I never thought that this was something that could affect my family. And that’s a huge part of the shock.”
Corey says it is difficult to get closure when it comes to a family member taking their own life.
“You never get finality,” he explains: “You never get the answers that you need because the only person to ask is gone. If you lose someone from an illness, it is horrible but expected as it’s part of a process. Likewise with a sudden accident such as a car crash, there is a reasoning for that but with suicide there is a sense of guilt.”
With that guilt, there comes more questions as Corey says: “You can’t help ask yourself could you have done more as you keep wondering why? You can’t have a normal funeral. You have a funeral with question marks at the end of it and that’s very difficult to deal with.”
His uncle’s untimely death at the age of 43 had a profound effect on Corey who has volunteered for a number of mental health charities.
“My uncle was my idol. I was in awe of him. He was smart, confident, happy and always making jokes.
The taboo around suicide is nothing like it was in the past. But Corey remember vividly hearing ‘muffled whispers’ at his uncle’s funeral: “The public perception was hard to take. Thankfully that shameful perception is changing and events like this help that to happen. We need to continue to make mental health part of the conversation.”
The Pieta House Charity provides a free, therapeutic approach to people who are in suicidal distress and to those who engage in self-harm. Darkness into Light as the biggest fundraiser for Pieta House helps keep the focus on mental health issues.
As Corey says: “Even if Pieta House disap- peared in the morning, I feel like Darkness into Light would still exist as it is so powerful. We are a community that will stand with people and show them support. We understand that people are suffering and we can let them know they are not alone. We are fighting this together.”
Corey who says he has had his own experience of depression and anxiety knows how important it is to talk about your mental health.
“My uncle Dominick to me was as close to perfect as a person could get. To know that he was susceptible in this way was such a shock. I heard the news while en route to a Sligo Rovers game and I remember thinking it must have been an accident. The fact that he took his own life never even entered my head.”
Corey concludes: “Darkness into Light is a unique event and has grown to mean a lot to the people of Sligo who have embraced it and helped it grow into a global event.”