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Lake Mac teen says RU OK?Day “saves lives”

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Sixteen-year-old Tiarnah Bartley has been creating and distributing hand-made RU OK?Day flyers throughout her postcode every year for the past three years.

She does this as a reminder for her community to check in on one another.

After spending hours designing and colouring dozens of mini-posters, she walks the streets of Cameron Park hoping her brightly-coloured handiwork will trigger a very important conversation.

RU OK?Day is an annual campaign dedicated to reminding communities that every day is the day to ask, “Are you OK?” and support those struggling with life’s ups and downs.

This year RU OK?Day is Thursday, 9th September.

When the day comes, Tiarnah will be awash in the harm prevention charity’s signature sunshine yellow, a colour deliberately joyful, despite the seriousness of its message.

RU OK? promotes connection and the prevention of self harm.

“Everyone’s voice deserves to be heard and a simple question saves lives everyday worldwide,” Tiarnah says.

“I do my posters because from personal experiences, me just asking if someone was okay, saved them, and they remind me everyday how much that question meant to them.”

Tiarnah first learned of RU OK? when she attended a Samaritans support group at West Wallsend High School.

Here the group wrote stories about what teens might be going through and how to promote good mental health amongst peers.

“People might look okay on the outside,” Tiarnah says.

“But on the inside they might be really struggling.

“I’m lucky that most of my friends feel they can open up to me about how they’re feeling, and that makes me feel really good.”

As a “non-official brand ambassador”, Tiarnah has been increasing her RU OK?Day activity each year since 2017.

“It started with just a few posters around the neighbourhood and I might have had stickers or pins,” she says.

“Now I have a tshirt, bandanna, socks, and shoelaces. I just wish I’d been able to wear them to school to remind everyone about RU OK?Day.”

And despite the current lockdown, Tiarnah says she’ll do her best to bring awareness to such a worthy campaign.

“Even if I can get just one person to ask someone else if they are okay, then I’ll be happy.”

R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues – to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they’re in crisis.

“An average of eight people die by suicide everyday in Australia alone,” its website states.

“For every death it’s estimated that 35 people will attempt to take their life and 89% report knowing someone who has attempted it.”

For 24/7 crisis or suicide prevention support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or head to lifeline.org.au/crisischat from 7pm to midnight for online support.

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