Former Tigers player James McQuillan will tell 400 students how he coped with the toughest days after suffering paralysing spinal cord injuries on the footy field.
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James, who became a quadriplegic after an on-field collision in April 2014, is the keynote speaker at a mental health forum being held at Billabong High School on Thursday.
Henty Local Health Advisory Committee chairman Mick Broughan said the aim of the forum was to show young people it was possible to get through tough times.
“We want our young people to know they are not alone when they face challenges in life,” Mr Broughan said.
“We want them to hear other people’s stories of how they coped with the challenges life presented them.
“It will be really inspirational for the students to listen to James and what he’s done since his accident.”
Other speakers include former Billabong High student Dr Natasha McLellan, who will talk about her 20-year battle with depression, and Henty farmer Steven Scott who took up running marathons after he lost a good mate to suicide.
When Mr Scott’s friend David Fogarty took his life, he decided he wanted to do something to actively reduce the stigma around mental health.
It triggered his mammoth effort to complete three marathons in three months and raise more than $10,000 for the Black Dog Institute.
“All I’m doing is putting one foot in front of the other and running,” he said in an interview in July 2016.
Now in its third year, the mental health forum aims to address issues affecting young people including mental health, drugs and alcohol, and online bullying, according to Mr Broughan.
“At the end of the day young people don’t want a lecture, they’d rather hear a story about someone’s experiences and how they got through it,” he said.
“We want them to know people in this community do care about the next generation and if they can find someone to talk to, then the problem is already half solved.
“The hardest conversation to have is the first one.”
The forum has attracted extensive support from Billabong High School staff and parents as well as the wider community.
Both Culcairn and Holbrook local health advisory committees have since joined with Henty to run the annual forum while Culcairn, Henty, Holbrook and Walla Walla Lions clubs prepare meals for all participants on the day.
This year Greater Hume Shire Youth Advisory Committee will also perform a 10-minute production around the issue of drug and alcohol abuse.
