Two weeks ago one of friends took his own life. Only saw him a few weeks before and there was no signs of potential concerns; we use to cause mischief at school, played football together and was a significant part of my secondary school life. Sadly, when you leave school, life changes and old friends tend to travel down different paths. Yet we would occasionally encounter each other throughout the years.
Since the tragic events, I cannot help recalling old days from school – to the point my dreams are becoming haunted by them. Tried my absolute hardest to use my philosophical and intuitive nature to understand why he took his life, but I can’t. Suicide is something humans struggle to comprehend and fully understand. The grief has been replaced with guilt and ‘what if?” questions; of course, I don’t have the power to alter time and events.
In 2011, according to the ONS, 6,000 individuals took their own lives. 6,000 men and women, like my friend, decided this world was too much to bear. We need to put faces to those statistics to truly recognise the growing crisis this society is facing; it is a list of people, not numbers.
It will be time for me, soon, to say my final goodbyes to him. The government might see him as a statistic, but I refuse to. He was my friend.
danielfurr
