In recent years the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William have worked hard to highlight the importance of good mental health, and yesterday the young royals visited St. Thomas’ Hospital to continue their crusade.
The pair met with Jonny Benjamin, a man who almost attempted suicide in 2008 before being stopped by a good samaritan.
After being diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when he was 20, Benjamin struggled to get a hold of his life. After hitting “rock bottom”, he planned on jumping from London’s Waterloo Bridge when passer-by, Neil Laybourn stepped in.
“It was a real snap decision, all the time I was walking up to Jonny I was thinking, ‘Why was he there, should I talk to him or not?'” Mr Laybourn, who was also at the meeting, told the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
“I just felt he needed help.”
Years after their life-changing encounter, Mr Benjamin, now 29, launched the #FindMike campaign in 2014 to find the stranger who stopped him from jumping that day.
The search went viral and Benjamin and Laybourn finally met. They’ve since become good mates.
Kate and William reunited the two men again yesterday in a bid to raise awareness for mental health and hear their remarkable story.
The Duchess, who looked regal in an emerald green Erdem overcoat, and William, who looked equally debonair in khakis, jacket and tie, also screened the documentary based on Benjamin’s #FindMike search to 20 young people.
After the watching the documentary, William told the group of teens: “If I may add anything to the expertise of what Neil and everyone here is talking about – it’s the importance of talking to each other.
“(I) really feel that we don’t listen, we don’t talk enough, so I hope if anything you take away from today, it’s talk amongst yourselves, share your problems, and communicate and be there for each other.”
“For both of us, the mental health piece has got lots of aspects. It’s such a big issue that we need to do something about it.
Adding: “We feel it’s been raised higher up the ladder. It’s suddenly bubbling just under the surface. Now we need to get up to the next level, to the surface.”
Last month, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed a 3 per cent rise in suicides in England, though the numbers fell in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. But all together 6,122 people died by suicide in 2014 in the UK, down from the 6,242 who took their own lives in 2013.
In a bid to help, Prince William spends much of his official focus on male suicide awareness, while his brother Prince Harry concentrates on mental health issues facing military veterans.
And by the same token, the Duchess of Cambridge dedicates her influence to shine a light on what needs to be done to help children affected by problems such as family breakdown, domestic violence, and addiction.
“We see through the work that we do with addiction, homelessness and knife crime that a lot of it stems back to childhood,” she said.
In a mental health piece Kate wrote for The Huffington Post last month, the 34-year old said she and husband, Prince William “would not hesitate to seek help” for their children, Prince George or Princess Charlotte, if she discovered they were struggling.
Kate wrote: “We hope to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings, and to give them the tools and sensitivity to be supportive peers to their friends as they get older.”
If you or somebody you know needs help contact:
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 224 636
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
MensLine Australia 1300 789 978
Or call 000 if you feel there is immediate danger
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