By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
RAFAL Kaplon felt like he’d never escape the “dark place” that engulfed him.
For three years Casey councillor Kaplon suffered from chronic depression which he thought would go on forever.
But after an inspiring display of leadership and compassion throughout 2014, Rafal Kaplon has been selected as the Berwick News Person of the Year and was given the chance to reflect on how far he had come in such a short space of time.
“It seemed like a dark place that you’d never get out of, like there was no light at the end of the tunnel,” 29-year-old Cr Kaplon said.
“I had to take a semester off uni. I needed time to myself; I couldn’t deal with life, basically.
“I started portraying the severe symptoms of depression. You know, isolation, sleeping a lot. I would burst into tears for no reason at no particular time.
“That was the peak of it and that’s where I really decided at the end that I needed to get better.”
Cr Kaplon’s depression spiralled throughout his mid-20s, but the illness had perhaps been looming before.
He thought since school that he may be gay but Cr Kaplon, a Polish migrant, never told anyone at the time and struggled to even accept it himself.
The young man didn’t come out to his family and close friends until he was 25.
“My struggle was accepting myself, because you sort of deny it all the time,” Cr Kaplon said.
“It’s like you’re constantly acting… you’re not yourself.
“You’re trying to put on some other mask.”
Having suffered this inner battle, Cr Kaplon would never have predicted what he would do years later to rally behind the City of Casey’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual and Intersex (LGBTI) community.
Last November Cr Kaplon came out publicly as gay after his fellow Four Oaks Ward councillor Rosalie Crestani attempted to raise a motion to stop the City of Casey promoting awareness of different sexual orientations.
The motion was unsuccessful and Cr Kaplon said the response to his announcement had been overwhelmingly heart-warming.
“That’s what really scared me – how would the community see this? Will there be some kind of backlash?” he said.
“And no, I haven’t received any negative feedback. I’ve received emails from people congratulating me, I’ve had people at functions congratulate me.
“The support was tremendous.”
Cr Kaplon and his family left post-Communist Poland in 1992 when Rafal was seven years old.
In Poland he remembers having to live with his parents, sister and brother in a one bedroom apartment as the country changed from a socialist-style economy to a market economy.
Once in Victoria his family stayed in an immigration hostel in Springvale before soon moving to Endeavour Hills where Cr Kaplon lived for two decades.
Following his attendance at Mossgiel Park Primary School and later at Dandenong High School, Cr Kaplon has now almost finished the final chapter of his university attendance, which includes a Bachelor of Business and Law and a Masters of Education – all at Monash.
While pursuing a career in secondary teaching, Cr Kaplon has taken to the first two years of his four-year councillorship with passion and determination.
“I had a clear picture of what I wanted to achieve for my ward, and we’re pretty much there,” Cr Kaplon said.
“My main election commitments were to get the Endeavour Hills Town Centre plan up and going and to retain the Endeavour Hills Secondary College site as some kind of public space.”
Cr Kaplon said the best way to describe his councillorship so far was as a “roller coaster ride”.
“It’s enjoyable, it’s exciting and I feel privileged to do it,” he said.
Those in need of immediate assistance, or who need to talk to someone they can trust, can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.
