Gillieston Heights mother and son Vicki and Brock Mendyk have this year raised thousands for Lifeline and shared their family story in the hope that no further Hunter residents are lost to suicide.
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Newcastle Herald readers and our panel of judges chose the pair as the winners of this year's Hunter Water Hunter Hero Award. The judges were commander of Newcastle police Superintendent Brett Greentree, Australian Community Media head of dailies Chad Watson and sales director Sue Prescott, Newcastle Airport chief executive officer Peter Cock, Hunter Water head of customer communications Jane Blakeney and Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery.
Today marks two years since the passing of Mrs Mendyk's husband, Peter. Five months after Peter took his own life, the couple's 19-year-old daughter Chelsey was also lost to suicide.
"Our lives have changed dramatically," Mrs Mendyk said of herself and her three sons. "It's very lonely. I miss them terribly."
The past two years have held some lessons, she said.
"I've learnt to stand up for myself, that's something Chelsey taught me before she passed. Another thing is that I don't judge anyone. I've met a lot of people who have had suicide close to them and every story is different. You don't know what the person next to you might be going through."
Mrs Mendyk and her eldest son Brock, 25, have begun participating in a number of initiatives that spread the message that talking to someone about how you feel could save your life.
Earlier in the year, Mrs Mendyk hosted a morning tea at Morpeth in memory of Peter and Chelsey, raising $15,000 for Lifeline's face-to-face counselling services. Brock acted as an ambassador for his local gym's mental health fundraiser and, in November, Mrs Mendyk and Peter's long-time friend Damian Greedy hosted a charity golf day raising a further $30,000 for Lifeline.
In October, the mother and son spent five days at Liddell coal mine sharing their family's story.
"It was really hard for me to sit and watch Brock say exactly how it's affected him. It put us both in a bit of a downer for the next couple of weeks," Mrs Mendyk said. "But we apparently got a really good response and a lot of staff did reach out."
Mrs Mendyk is organising a charity ball next September and is committed to continuing to talk openly about the need for people to seek help if they are not feeling right.
"It's way out of my comfort zone," she said. "But if it helps just one person, it's worth it.
"We can't change what happened to us but hopefully we can change it for somebody else."
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