ELLIE WILKIE FROM Edinburgh put up a tweet last week about her dad, Brian.
Brian suffered from severe depression following his stepson’s death by suicide in 2014 at 22-years old.
Using the hashtag #breakthestigma, she shared his story of recovery tweeting:
This year began with my dad mentally suffering depression and suicide attempt. Today he ends the year starting his new career in becoming a recovery support worker. Words can’t describe how proud we are.”
It’s okay not to be okay.”
The tweet went massively viral – at the time of writing, it had garnered 29,000 retweets and over 160,000 likes.
It blew up so much, in fact, that ITV’s This Morning invited the pair on to talk about the tweet and Brian’s survival story.
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Unfortunately, the news agenda had other ideas for the pair.
With the announcement of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s engagement, it was decided that Ellie and Brian would not be interviewed as part of their segment.
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Unfortunately today was not the day for our story to be heard. Due to breaking news our story was cut off live tv. The royal wedding will go ahead however mental health issues will always remain.
Until next time Dad.”
People have been tweeting their support for the father/daughter duo, with one user saying:
This just shows how important your message is! The media cares more about two strangers rather than our dad’s, brother’s and friend’s health.”
Another said:
While I am happy for Harry and Meghan, there was no need for your story not to be heard. An engagement notice takes 1 minute to do and has little to no meaning to anyone else beside the couple and their families whereas your story could have educated people and even saved lives.”
In an interview with the BBC, Ellie said of her dad:
My dad is now my hero. I’ve never met someone so focused to change his life and love it.”
I was so proud of him I wanted to tweet it. My post has reached thousands and that’s brought me to tears.”
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