https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh63RDhNB1Y
How knowing the warning signs
of suicide could save a life
T
iana’s best friend Shae committed suicide when she
was 15.
‘What if..?’ were the words that occupied Tiana’s mind for
months after Shae’s death. She asked herself again and
again what she could’ve done differently to catch her
friend before it was too late.
Know the signs.
Share them.
You could save a life.
Tiana didn’t want anyone else to go through the feeling of
being left behind in the way that she did so she started the
Alive Campaign. She saw that there was lots of funding and
research going into how to treat and support people who
had identified their risk of suicide, though not as much for
those who hadn’t yet been identified. Tiana researched
the seven signs of suicide, had them signed off by mental
health experts and printed them on easy-to-read business
cards.
Tiana spends her free time handing out the cards at local
events and shopping centres; talking to people about how
to recognise suicide risk in their loved ones. Now it’s
something bigger. Anyone can buy Tiana’s cards online and
distribute them.; proceeds from the cards go towards an
Alive Campaign to make the cards available free of charge
through secondary schools in Queensland.
36 SwitchOn!
Tiana was one of the 7 inaugural winners of the SBN
International Youth Awards in 2011. The SBN Youth
Awards open for nomination on June 1st each year