In episode 347 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Karen Sykes.
Karen is the Co-Founder of the Yorkshire branch of suicide grief awareness charity, Speak Their Name.
Karen co-founded the Yorkshire Speak Their Name Community Interest Company alongside a woman called Anna Scott. Both of them connected as they have both lost family members to suicide.
SInce its inception, the Yorkshire Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt has toured across the region of Yorkshire in a variety of settings, including sporting venues, hospitals and conferences to raise awareness about suicide grief.
In this episode we first chart Karen’s mental health journey, where we discuss three periods of grief.
The first was the death of her father in 2001. Then, on October 3rd 2015, her husband Ian tragically took his own life. Four years later, on 22nd April 2019, Karen’s youngest daughter Beth, also tragically took her own life. Beth was just 26 years old at the time.
We dive into these periods of grief, how Ian’s and Beth’s deaths turned Karen’s world upside down, how she tried to carve out a new life alongside the grief and her recovery.
We also explore how she’s connected with other mums who have gone through suicide grief, including friend of the pod and Bags for Strife Founder Angela Allen, and how Karen’s channelled the grief into this new world of suicide grief awareness and post-vention support.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can find out more about Speak Their Name and submit your own Memorial Quilt here.
TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion about grief, loss and the impact that losing a loved one to suicide can have, so please listen with caution.
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