North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Suicide victims more than just statistics
A Glenfield woman, widowed by suicide, is taking part in a national campaign to show suicide victims are more than just statistics.
Fi Perez lost her husband Jerome ‘‘Lome’’ Perez in 2008. The 40-year-old father was living with bipolar disorder and had been unable to find adequate help for his mental illness.
Despite medication and counselling, Jerome Perez was suffering. He and his wife sought respite care, but, as a coronial inquest found, a lack of facilities left him wanting.
After 18 months of struggling through manic and depressive episodes, Fi Perez intercepted her husband attempting suicide, managing to prevent him from committing the act.
In the week that followed, it looked like he had turned a corner. But, after failing to pick up his son from school, she went home to find he had taken his life.
Since her husband’s death, Fi Perez has become an outspoken advocate for mental health reform and suicide prevention.
That led her to taking part in The Shoe Project, a national campaign that has seen 606 pairs of empty shoes set up in cities and towns across the country to represent the number of lives lost to suicide last year.
When the campaign came to Devonport, Perez shared her story as people passed by the display. She said the sight of the shoes packed an emotional punch.
‘‘When you’ve got someone standing there and they are holding a pair of shoes that had a person in them, that’s like. ‘Wow’,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s just a moving experience.’’
The jandals she took along on the day represented her husband but belonged to a friend whose partner had also committed suicide. She said the display humanised suicide figures.
‘‘Jerome, he was more than a statistic or one of the 2008 stats,’’ she said. ‘‘He was a man. He was 40-year-old man with a child, a wife, a life.’’
The roadshow ends in Wellington outside Parliament on Sunday, September 10 to coincide with International Suicide Prevention Day.
On Monday, the campaigners will hold a public meeting on suicide and mental health to talk about changes they’d like to see made in mental health.
WHERE TO GET 24/7 HELP ❚ Lifeline: 0800 543 354
❚ Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 ❚ Healthline: 0800 611 116