In loving memory of Lydia Barry - A kind hearted soul we lost too soon

Lydia Barry was my friend and on Wednesday the 30th of November, 2022, she committed suicide. It destroyed me to hear that she was gone. Only a month before I'd been showing off my septum piercing to her on Snapchat and she'd been commenting how we were 'twins'. Now she was gone. I didn't even know how to feel. I was devastated and lost and couldn't begin to think about how her family felt at that moment. All I knew was that I had to do something.

In memory of the incredible human that Liddy was I'm going to run a marathon in her name. As I write this I can almost see her looking at me completely dumbfounded and saying "A marathon? Are you insane? You don't even run..." but I need to do this in her name. Each year we lose too many people to suicide and the ripple effect on families, friends, and loved ones is colossal. If you can give even 50c to donate to I am Hope in memory of Lydia I will be thankful. Your donation could save someone's life and in turn, save the lives of the hundreds of people that care about them. Thank you.

I met Lydia back when I was working at Pak N' Save with her in 2015. She used to laugh about how much I'd mess around. I used to spend so many days and evenings at Lydia's place just procrastinating my studies but she always made me feel like I wasn't intruding (I was...). Lydia was always supportive & encouraging. That's how she was with everyone. She deserves to be remembered and she will be.