Lending an ear for good

Otago Polytechnic student Alesha Pyers with the pieces to fundraise for Voices of Hope and Life Matters Dunedin. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Asix-year battle with depression inspired a young student to donate proceeds from her jewellery business to a cause close to her heart — and now she is taking it a step further, auctioning off a pair of diamond-studded gold earrings for charity.

Alesha Pyers, 21, was studying neuroscience at the University of Otago last year when her mental health deteriorated, and she ended up at the Emergency Department and then the cardiac ward at Dunedin Hospital after a suicide attempt.

While recovering back in her hometown of Nelson, Pyers decided to switch tack with her study to pursue her passion and enrolled at Otago Polytechnic to study fashion design.

Pyers has created and sold about 200 pairs of colourful acrylic earrings in the last two months under her brand Alesha Kerry Collections, and donates $5 to mental health charities for each pair sold.

The vivid pieces, cut by laser to look like the electrical image of a heartbeat, are not just statement earrings but are intended to serve as conversation-starters encouraging people to talk about mental health.

That could have saved me multiple times, I needed that conversation.

Alesha Pyers, designer

"That could have saved me multiple times, I needed that conversation," she said.

Pyers was first diagnosed with depression at the age of 15, and said it had been an "interesting six-year journey" learning to deal with her illness. "That's where my drive is from, I don't want anyone to ever have to feel that way."

Alesha Pyers' pair of gold and diamond earrings she designed. Photo / Peter McIntosh

She often received encouraging personal messages from customers who were placing orders on her website.

"A lot of people have shared their experiences with mental health and suicide and how it's affected their lives."

She teamed up with Nelson jewellers Benjamin Black Goldsmiths to create a gold and diamond version of the earrings, which will be auctioned on TradeMe under "Heartbeat Earrings" between August 18 and September 2.

All proceeds will go to Voices of Hope and the Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust.

Benjamin Black Goldsmiths were enthusiastic about the project and the finished earrings were something quite special, she said.