I AM invited to attend the Hawke's Bay District Health Board's Fusion Group meeting.
This is a group of managers established to provide guidance and allocation of resources in response to suspected suicides in Hawke's Bay. The group discusses the pending anniversary of three young people from Flaxmere who died in November 2013. All were known to each other. Suicide is a sensitive topic to write about and needs to be handled sensitively.
These past 12 months have seen an increase in suicide rates in Hawke's Bay. Stages of grief and disbelief have rocked our community this past year and it has been tragic for those left behind. It appears to affect certain groupings of people. When an adolescent or young adult dies it does have an effect on their peers.
Another group is rural males, who perhaps are socially isolated and struggling with stress, and then there are those who struggle with severe depression, which was the case with Chris my late husband's best friend. Tragically sad and a struggle for those of us left behind. Te Aranga responds to suicides from Paharakeke Flaxmere. Families come together to share their grief and anxiety. Pam and Henare O'Keefe are asked to sit in with these families - "we don't need to say anything; we are just there to love and support them". A coroner comes to the marae requesting support to access affected local families.
Recently I was approached by Hana from Flaxmere who asked me if I would share her personal story. Hana Stevenson is a 35-year-old mother of four. She recently had a young person close to her who took her own life. Hana shares with me that she herself had a tough time growing up. She was subjected to abuse, including sexual abuse, and had more than one attempt to take her own life.
