Remember the heartfelt plea from Donal, whose light shines on
■ With the life-enhancing Darkness Into Light walk coming up, I think about suicide, about how it kills good people, kills hope, creates grief beyond words for those left behind.
But right now I also think about a true Irish hero, not one who fought for Ireland but who devoted the few remaining weeks of his life to spreading a simple but immensely powerful message: if you’re suicidal, seek help; that no matter how dreadful your situation, how seemingly desperate or full of darkness the future looks, help really is waiting, once you reach out.
May 13 is the fifth anniversary of the death of Donal Walsh, the 16-year-old Cork boy who showed us all the meaning of true courage, and who reminded us of just how precious life is.
Terminally ill with cancer, he found time to appeal to others who despaired of living to re-consider their suicidal thoughts or intention. His message, broadcast via the print and visual media, hit home.
We’ll probably never know how many lives he saved, how many grief-stricken scenes involving huge funerals in cities, villages and towns across Ireland were prevented thanks to his resounding affirmation of life in the final days of his own.
What we do know is that suicide remains today what is always was: a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Let’s remember the heartfelt plea from Donal Walsh, as his life ebbed away.
Help is available. Turn back from the darkness and give life another chance, because it is worth living – for ourselves and those who will miss and grieve for us, and maybe blame themselves unfairly, if we opt for death by suicide.
John Fitzgerald Callan, Co Kilkenny