From the darkness to the light ...

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Volunteering for Pieta House has been an excellent experience for me through a tough six month period in which I battled to overcome the MRSA 'superbug' after undergoing routine surgery at Univesity Hospital Galway back in early November.

When I left the Connacht Tribune at the end of September, I had not envisaged months of hanging around my home city waiting for my shoulder to heal.

Voluntary redundancy was supposed to open up a whole new set of opportunities, not three operations in as many months and at least 100 visits to the (superb) public health nurses.

The experience has taught me to live more in the present, and not to spend so much time planning an uncertain future. 

Running the event's Facebook page, which passed the 8,000 followers mark last week, has been a welcome distraction as have the regular meetings with the core group of eight volunteers who have put so much effort into the running of the Darkness Into Light (DIL) event next Saturday.

The six month build up has allowed me to use my journalism and social media skills, while planning an event which is expected to bring 4,000 people to Salthill in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The power of social media was brought home to me recently when a friend's wonderful photograph of the Salthill promenade was viewed by over 11,500 people.

As I contemplate on whether to volunteer overseas or seek a new job in Ireland, volunteering for DIL has helped me to get through some dark nights of the soul.

The growth in popularity of DIL, the annual fundraising event in aid of the suicide prevention charity, has been nothing short of phenomenal. People really 'get' the twin themes of hope and rememberance.
 

It has only been five years since the first one took place at the Phoenix Park in Dublin and four since 80 hardy souls braved the elements for a dawn walk in Salthill to bring the event to Galway for the first time.

Last year there were two in Co Galway, Tuam and Salthill, and those of us who spent six months planning the city event were amazed when over 4,000 people turned up at Leisureland just before 4am.

There are 80 walks taking place across the world this year as DIL has gone international for the first time, a huge increase on the 39 which took place in Ireland in 2014. 

There is something hugely symbolic about an event in which people put on bright yellow t-shirts before taking off for a 5km walk which begins in complete darkness but ends with the arrival of the dawn.

It symbolises the hope provided by Pieta House to people in distress and the importance of the walk to the region was underlined when Pieta opened their first West of Ireland facility, providing free counselling, in Tuam early last year.

In Galway, we are blessed to have the Salthill Promenade, which means that our walk is one of the most scenic in the country – we will have rivals in that department from the three Aran Islands, who have all come on board for the first time this year.

So it makes sense to start and end the event at Leisureland, taking in the seafront and South Park, where a team of volunteers added to the magical atmosphere by putting down a trail of night lights last year.

As far back as January, a group of eight of us sat down in a Galway city centre office to begin the planning for the event which takes place at 4.15am next Saturday (May 9).

Half of our committee were on board last year, when the Galway City walk alone raised €80,000 for Pieta House, and it was good for us ‘veterans’ to see some newcomers come on board.

A lot of planning goes into it. We needed to secure venues, get Garda clearance to close off the streets in the middle of the night, and secure thousands of t-shirts and hundreds of posters from Pieta House in Dublin. My own role involves updating the Facebook page, which has become a bit hectic over the past two weeks.

We have opened up a ‘pop up’ shop at the Eyre Square Centre over recent weekends and the commitment to the cause of our committee members, who put in many hours without being paid a cent, has to be seen to be believed.

It was our task to organise the launch of all nine Co Galway walks last month and the goodwill there is towards the event was evident in the huge turnout at the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill.

Galway hurling captain David Collins, who lost a team-mate to suicide, made an astounding speech which almost brought everyone in the room to tears; while Connacht Rugby manager Pat Lam and Galway United boss Tommy Dunne also gave phenomenal support to DIL.

The Connacht management team will do an early morning run in yellow DIL t-shirts on Saturday, even though they are away from home, while the Galway United players did their warm-up in support of the event a few weeks ago.

Their speeches at the launch underlined the importance of talking about suicide and mental health, how it really helps to show people that they are not suffering alone. Pieta House also run a ‘Mind our Men’ campaign as us men definitely find it harder than women to talk about mental health problems.

At the launch of DIL at the Galway Bay Hotel

Richard Donovan, who organises marathons all over the world, has given us a gantry which will allow us to separate runners from walkers ahead of the pre-dawn start. Believe it or not, some people really enjoy a 5km run at 4.15 in the morning!

This year’s theme is connectivity and everyone taking part is urged to reach out and begin a conversation with the person walking alongside them.

There is bound to be an anti-climax for the eight or nine of us who have put five months’ work into organising the Galway walk, but there is great satisfaction in knowing that our efforts go some way towards helping people who are in distress.

Let’s hope the weather is a bit better than last year! Most people were drenched to the skin when they returned to Leisureland, but nobody seemed to mind as they stayed around for some excellent musical entertainment and a cup of tea afterwards. In fact, the atmosphere was so magical that nobody wanted to go home!

The Galway City Darkness Into Light walk takes place at Leisureland at 4.15am on Saturday morning. Check out the event’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Darkness-Into-Light-Galway/413050655520763. T-shirts can be collected in Leisureland on Friday evening, May 8, from 5 to 8pm.

Shining lights in the darkness

Rarely have I been so proud of the four main sports teams who represent my city and county as I was this week . . . and none of them had to kick or hit a ball.

This is my second year to volunteer to organise the Darkness Into Light 5km walk for Pieta House in Galway and on Wednesday night I was simply blown away by the humility of the men who represent our county and province with pride.

The Galway city DIL committee was tasked with hosting a launch on behalf of all nine walks in the county this year and none of us could have dreamed of the cooperation we received from people who have busy sporting lives.

Galway and Connacht teams might not always have the greatest successes, but the people who lead them should make us all feel truly proud.

Connacht Rugby manager Pat Lam at the DIL launch

Both the managers of Connacht Rugby and Galway United were keen to get involved as soon as they heard our launch was to raise awareness of suicide prevention, while the hurlers and footballers sent along some of their bright young stars. 

Their speeches were, quite simply, phenomenal and gave more than a modicum of hope that our culture is changing when it comes to us men and how we discuss our problems, lows, and fears.

These people might run out at Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium in front of 80,000 or 50,000 fans, but they are subjected to the same kinds of frustrations, fears, down days, and vulnerabilities which make us all human.

Connacht Rugby manager Pat Lam spoke from the heart about the loss of a friend to suicide. 

He described how his wife had walked the Darkness Into Light 5k in Salthill last year and how the Connacht management team would keep the Galway walk in their minds, even if they will be miles away, preparing for a game in Italy.

Lam, a New Zealander, made it so clear why he has become a hugely popular figure during his relatively short time in Galway. 

He talked about the importance of how the players shake hands with each other whenever they meet up. They know how important it is for each and every one of them to connect and look out for each other.

Galway United manager Tommy Dunne joked that he had not worn a suit in four years. 

But he had an even more moving message about a former team-mate who took his own life while playing professional football in Scandinavia.

He described how sad he felt that he had not spotted the warning signs.

There and then, he decided that the Galway United players would warm-up for their next home game in bright yellow Darkness Into Light t-shirts. For the derby against Sligo Rovers, he wanted to highlight the importance of suicide prevention. He brought some people in the room at the Galway Bay Hotel to tears.

He said a manager’s task can involve “reading” players, evaluating who is in good form or confident ahead of a big game. But he referred to how much more there is to life than just being up for a game.

Next up was Galway hurler David Collins, who was only given about ten minutes’ notice when asked to make a contribution on behalf of the GAA.

Instead of complaining abou the short notice, he said he had no problem speaking about a cause which was close to his heart.

Within minutes, he moved most of us present in the room to tears.

He spoke about the pain of losing a team-mate, Niall Donoghue, in 2013. Niall was a gifted young man who played alongside him in front of 80,000 people in an All-Ireland final and replay just over a year before.

David said most of us have no idea of what it’s like to play in such massive games. Within the members of the panel themselves, players often have no idea what’s going on in each others’ lives.

He said that not a day goes by when the members of the Galway senior hurling panel don't think about their former team-mate.

All three speeches were stunning; all three showed that the stigma attached to talking about suicide and depression is being tackled at the highest level by people involved in sport.

It was so uplifting to see Irish men, sporting heroes, talking honestly about mental health and the support available.

They showed that even people with amazing jobs, top level sports people, know the pain involved when someone they love takes their own life. 

Footballers, hurlers and rugby players are no different from the rest of us . . . they know what it’s like to experience pain or loss in their home, family, community, or even the dressing-room.

Galway hurler David Collins, who made an amazing speech

They left all nine Co Galway committees with a bit more of a spring in their step as they continue the countdown to the Darkness Into Light event in the early hours of Saturday, May 9.

When people in such wonderful positions can speak so eloquently about the pain of loss, there really is hope for us all. On Wednesday night, our sporting heroes did the people of Galway and Connacht a huge favour by shining some light into the darkness.

They told us all to look out for each other, which is the theme of this year's walk.

The guest speakers sure shattered the myth of the "macho" sportsmen, too proud or tough to talk about their problems. 

And they left many of us feeling inspired.

http://dil.pieta.ie