COMMUNITY
Let’s do it for Megan a CalMac staff in Oban are flying the flag for mental health as a ‘beautiful’ colleague continues her recovery. Popular Megan Baillie, 22, who worked on the MV Isle of Mull ferry, remains under specialist care nine months after attempting to take her own life on May 19. A ‘livewire’ member of the team with a ‘smile which lit up the room’, nearly 40 colleagues are taking part in the Megan’s Miles fundraising challenge from March. They will carry out 126-miles of exercise each to represent the distance between the Oban terminal and the Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh. Donations are going to the Scottish Association for Mental Health via an online JustGiving page set up by Megan’s friend Nicky MacKechnie, from Oban. Nicky works aboard the MV Clansman and the pair bonded while serving their apprenticeships together. In no time at all, the fund passed its £2,500 target and has now topped £4,400. Supporters have dug deep to help fund services for those often suffering in silence. There had been no outward sign Megan was feeling the way she was. It was only later that ‘heartbreaking’ notes were found on her phone, her older sister Lauren told The Oban Times. It was clear Megan had been putting a brave face on, she said.
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With that in mind, Megan’s mum Helen Hogarth urged people to talk and genuinely listen at all times - not just when people are ‘visibly’ down. ‘We need to get people talking before they feel that suicide is the only way out for them,’ said Helen. ‘Talking - not just when they’ve had one too many cocktails or pints and people think: ‘It’s just drink talk’. ‘Talking - not just when they’ve had a bad day at
work and people think: ‘Aw, it’s fine things will get better’. ‘Talking - not just when they have split up from their boyfriend or girlfriend and people say: ‘Oh well, there’s plenty more fish in the sea’. ‘But instead, talking when they’ve had a good day - a funny, eventful, productive day - but when they still can only think about when, how and where to take their own lives.’ Despite her family initially being told she may not
| SPRING 2021
Mull & Iona Life issue 41.indd 14
22/03/2021 16:19:33
