WEIRD, WHACKY AND DOWNRIGHT WONDERFUL: The bravery of a Douglas Shire resident
BRAVERY
It takes a lot to be vulnerable. To have the courage and conviction to talk about a personal issue without fear of perceived and unnecessary ridicule, judgement or potential embarrassment.
It takes a lot more courage to start a very public conversation about the exact same matter.
A wise person once said ‘a lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep’ – and so it was this past August that a brave Douglas Shire resident approached Newsport to tell their story about a subject matter that’s usually kept behind closed doors – mental health.
Giving Newsport full verbal and written permission Bree Richmond bravely detailed her battle to receive the appropriate mental heath care she so needed within the Douglas Shire.
At the time Bree had queried whether enough was being done for locals to receive adequate mental health assistance at Mossman mental health after an alleged personal encounter had left her feeling highly vulnerable and unassisted in her time of need.
Bree told Newsport she walked away from her scenario feeling “sadly let down by the system, with appointments being cancelled, no follow up phone calls from them, me ringing and asking for help with no response and then being told to present to the emergency department”.
For Bree to go public with her concerns, to use her name, to make the issue public took an extraordinary amount of bravery, courage, resilience, strength, determination and willpower.
Bree’s conviction to not only talk about her battles, but to do so in the most public of forums, in the most vulnerable of fashion is the reason this story was my most favourite of the year.
As Bree said at the time, if only one person read the story of her plight and was moved to seek help, then the whole process was absolutely worth it.
Think about it for a moment – how would you go telling the Douglas Shire some of your most personal information in the most public of forums?
Now ask yourself would you do the same as Bree?
Bravo Bree!
Thank you!
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