Former AFL and netball stars hope that by opening up about experiences with mental illness, they can spark others to start talking about their own issues.
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Collingwood and Melbourne Kestrels netballer Shae Brown, and AFL football players Ryan O'Keefe and Scott Cummings were part of the Puka Up bike ride that arrived in Wangaratta on Friday as part of a 10-day tour across Victoria.
“Puka” is a Hindi word meaning “authentic” that was taken on by Wayne Schwass as he built the organisation to start conversations about mental health in a bid to stop the big number of people dying from suicide.
He has been leading the bike ride, but was too unwell to take part in last night's forum at Merriwa Park.
While O'Keefe is known as a tough, dual premiership player with Sydney, he also had his personal challenges during his AFL career, leading to a decision to join the Puka Up team.
“The reason I come on here is because I have struggled and I have battled. Probably no one really knows that,” he said.
“I’ve been fortunate to have support from my family and was brave enough to go and seek help.”
It was Schwass' story of hiding his depression that inspired O'Keefe to open up.
“What we do as men is mask it," he said.
"During my career, I just focused so much energy on that and that sort of hid it.
"When I retired there was this real void and the bike was a saviour for me.”
Brown said so many people had been affected by suicide and encouraged others to keep going with the conversation.
“We believe the effects of poor emotional health and wellbeing, it ends in suicide and frankly, it is too much. We have to start these conversations now,” she said.
While Cummings has not battled with mental illness himself, he admitted he was embarrassed to be one of the "blokes" who would have made it hard for football teammates to open up.
He said most men his age were brought up with the attitude “if you’ve got a problem, harden up, stop being a sook”.
“I was ignorant and I wasn’t educated about it,” Cummings said.
“It’s amazing what a change in your attitude can do for someone.”
If you are seeking help, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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