Saving lives in Callum’s name
Campaign to avoid teen tragedies
The sister of a tragic Wishaw teenager who took his own life is desperately trying to prevent another family from going through the same heartache.
Sixteen-year-old Callum Dunne was found dead in Coltness woodland in April.
His family were left devastated by his death and have been struggling to come to terms with what has happened since.
Callum’s heartbroken sister Shannon Brown, dad Douglas and the rest of his close family and friends know nothing they can do will bring him back but they are desperate to keep his memory alive and do not want his death to be in vain.
Shannon said: “Unbelievably this will be my first Christmas without Callum.
“I know already that it’s going to be a tough time. I also know so many other people are going to be feeling the same. I just need to make sure everyone is safe.”
At the time of Callum’s death two other Wishaw teenagers also tragically took their own lives within the space of a week.
Shannon added: “We all know that Callum wasn’t the only youngster who sadly took his own life during the same period.
“This broke many, many hearts and as a whole community it turned everyone upside-down.
“Everyone was devastated and many were filled with worry and fear for their own loved ones. I will never forget the support me and my family got during the worst time of our lives.”
Shannon, 23, is now looking for volunteers to help her make a real change to people’s thoughts and has came up with Let’s Walk About And Talk It Out to help young people who are worried about their mental health.
She said: “For a while now I’ve wanted to turn my grief into something I can grow from and at the same time I wanted to give something back to the community who helped my family during our darkest days.
“I want people who are struggling like Callum to know that suicide is not the answer.
“Me, my family and some friends have now came up with this idea.
“We want to do our very best to get this message out there to members of the community, especially young people. We want them to know that no one is ever alone. There is always someone to talk to.”
The plan for Let’s Walk About And Talk It Out is for groups of trained volunteers to go around areas where teenagers are known to gather to hand out leaflets and contact numbers of charities and organisations they can turn to if they are struggling.
Anyone who wants to get involved can go to the Carrick Hall, Coltness, on Wednesday night between 7pm to 8pm to meet Shannon and the team.