COMMENT: We all need support in life’s hard times

WHEN it’s an immediate ‘that’s no problem!’ from a photographer who has been asked to cover a photo marking at 4 in the morning, he’s either misheard you or has a vested interest in the job.

Thankfully, for the Leader, it was neither in the case of getting the Darkness Into Light event in the city covered last Saturday morning. The photographer, just like the thousands who rose from their beds in the city and county, was happy to sacrifice a few hours of sleep for the greater good.

In 2009, in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, 400 people set off on the inaugural Darkness Into Light 5km walk to raise funds for Pieta. Pieta provide free counselling to those with suicidal ideation, those engaging in self-harm, and those bereaved by suicide. 

READ MORE: PICTURES: Hope is the message at Limerick parish's Darkness into Light walk

From small beginnings, the movement has continued to grow, and now there are over 150,000 participants in Darkness Into Light each year. 

Last Saturday morning in Limerick, Darkness Into Light fundraising walks took place in Pallasgreen, Kilmallock, Newcastle West, Kildimo, Hospital, Glenbrohane, Anglesboro, Knocklong and Limerick city. Walking side by side in all these communities were young children, teenagers and adults. At times it can really feel like life is getting much more complex for our younger generation and it’s events like this that help to remove the silence and, yes, stigma, that can still shroud mental illness. 

Very few of us - if any - will get through life without encountering extremely difficult and challenging times, and not everyone is well enough equipped to deal with them when they do arrive.  Events like Darkness Into Light remind everyone - no matter what the age - of the importance of supporting and uplifting one another during those difficult times.