A London woman is running 12 marathons in 12 months in memory of her brother, who took his own life at the age of 19. Emma Cooper, 31, from Islington, said Jamie's death in 2005 came as a 'complete shock' to the family, as there were no warning signs.
Ms Cooper, who works with the men's suicide charity CALM, decided to take on the challenge to raise awareness about mental health and suicide in young men. She said: 'He really was the life and soul of the party, and it was never dull when he was around. When we lost him it came as a complete shock.'
She began running in 2016 with a 10k race and completed her first marathon in April. So far, she has run five marathons as part of the year-long challenge. On Sunday, she will join hundreds of others in CALM's central London 10k run to support the charity's free helpline, which helped prevent more than 675 suicides in 2018.
CALM CEO Simon Gunning said funds from the run will directly support the helpline, which is receiving more calls than ever. He added: 'It's a really touching event because a lot of people running are bereaved by suicide, which is so important that people take positive action to prevent suicide.'
Ms Cooper hopes her efforts will encourage people to talk about their mental health. She said: 'I've had my own struggles myself and I believe that by talking about it, by being open about it, hopefully people may feel comfortable about talking. It's normal to not feel 100 per cent all the time.'
