About My Challenge
I’m taking on 2,000 push ups in 23 days to raise funds for Samaritans. This is personal. Since 2021 I’ve survived 4 suicidal mental health crises. Each one felt like my old self collapsing so a new self could form, but without the right environment these moments become dangerous. The mind can move into a phase no one can reach and it becomes a fight to stay present. Suicide prevention isn’t abstract to me. It’s something I’ve lived on the edge of.
What kept me here was my children. The fear of them growing up without a father. Not being able to walk my daughter down the aisle if she gets married one day. My son losing that vital father figure. Or the fear that my death could create a chain reaction and pull one of them into the same darkness and crises.
I’m here now with tools, experience and all the fatherly love ready for them if they ever face their own storm. I won’t just send a text. I will drop everything, travel wherever I need to, sit with them, hold them, wrap a blanket around them and stay until the ground feels safer. I’ll have an SOS bag ready with food, money, comfort items, films, games and reminders of their support network.
Mental health crises don’t last a day or a week. They move in waves. Good days and bad days. Pressure, fear and exhaustion. What someone needs in that state is steadiness, patience and full presence. Not pressure. Not judgement. Not ableism. Not stigma. Just compassion, consistency and physical presence.
It isn’t weakness to go through this. It’s the opposite. Mental warfare isn’t a game or something to pity. It’s evolutionary, like a mother giving birth to something new. The pain is real. But imagine leaving that mother alone in labour. That’s what a crisis feels like when you’re facing it in isolation without understanding what’s happening inside you.
I’ve been through the excruciating pain of several crises while feeling embarrassed, ashamed, guilty and unable to be the father or provider I wanted to be. It’s like walking through a horror film in the dark, trying to find your way out while everything familiar disappears. The scene of Max trying to escape in Stranger Things captures this feeling better than anything I’ve ever seen.
I’m doing this challenge to raise awareness, to support suicide prevention, to support the people who answer those life saving calls, and because I need to rebuild myself too. I want to get fitter and stronger. I’ll be doing light training leading up to February and will share a daily video snippet throughout the challenge to keep everything honest and real.
Serious mental health doesn’t care if we sound repetitive. It needs daily attention, understanding and humanity. All donations help Samaritans answer more calls from people who feel overwhelmed, alone or at crisis point. Thank you for supporting this.
Supporting Samaritans
Samaritans is the charity that prevents suicide through the power of human connection. Connecting people in crisis with trained volunteers who will always listen. People calling for change with those who need to listen. People who’ve been there before, with those struggling now.
Samaritans make sure there’s always someone to listen if you’re in crisis or feeling suicidal. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
By donating, you're helping someone with suicidal thoughts get help when they need it most.
My Challenge History
Pushuperer for 1 year
| Push-Ups | Funds | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | $10 | Total | 0 | $10 |
🧡🧡🧡