By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A 30 SECOND phone conversation was all it took for her world to change.
It was a February afternoon last year when Fawn Brady was told over the line that her little brother and best friend, Kane, had taken his life at the age of 23.
“That phone call, that 30 second phone call changed my life and Jess’ life, because Jess was the first person I called to say ‘get to my house’,” Fawn said.
“From that point I then went from living quite a normal structured life, with an immaculate home and in the click of a finger I had my mum, my step-dad, my two little brothers and sisters that I had to then tell. I had to deal with coroners.
“In that six months I didn’t have time to think, I didn’t have time to breathe, sometimes.”
Fawn and Jess White, both 26, had been inseparable since they were teenagers at Berwick Secondary College so there was never any doubt who Fawn would turn to in the wake of the tragedy.
Also inevitable is how they have used Kane’s passing as an opportunity to assist all those like him who are in need of help but don’t always know where to find it.
Fawn and Jess began Kane’s Crusade in August – a depression support and awareness group specialising in, but not restricted to, helping young men.
The Kane’s Crusade Facebook page has amassed more than 5000 likes in less than a year, while the group’s first trivia night is set for 9 August where donations to the cause are being welcomed.
“It started out people liking the page, people commenting and then people started contacting us saying ‘this had happened to me’, or then there were ones where people said ‘I feel like I am Kane’, ‘I’m living Kane’s life’, ‘I don’t know where I can get help from’,” Jess said.
“We don’t claim to be medical professionals, we’re not health professionals, we’re just there to talk and we’re there to support.”
And they have spread that support far and wide, even visiting patients in health facilities to lend a helping hand, where Fawn believes their age helps her and Jess relate to those young men who are struggling.
Kane’s Crusade has its beginnings six months after her brother’s passing, when Fawn finally had a moment to herself and found inspiration in music.
“I’d lived such a hectic life for so long in that first six months that I sat on the couch and everything was quiet, there was no one in the house and I heard a musician that I’m really inspired by – 360,” Fawn said.
“A song came on that Jess has always said is about me – Miracle in a Costume.
“This (Kane’s Crusade) can be a miracle in a costume because the lives that we have, can and will continue to keep on saving really is that miracle.”
Now formally trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), Fawn and Jess have huge plans for Kane’s Crusade, including their hope of introducing an ’ALIVE’ centre to the City of Casey – a facility specifically for people suffering from depression where they could get medical treatment, physiotherapy, alternative medicines and counselling all under one roof.
Having set a fundraising target of $50,000 to get the centre started, Fawn and Jess hope a trivia night will be a significant step towards realising their dream.
For more information on Kane’s Crusade or to get involved with the trivia night, visit https://www.facebook.com/Kanescrusade, or www.kanescrusade.net.
Those who need immediate assistance or to talk to someone they can trust can visit beyondblue.org.au, call Suicide Helpline Victoria on 1300 651 257 or Lifeline on 131 119.
