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Corey Choat is raising money for Gumboot Friday, I am Hope, in honour of his sister Sally who died by suicide
Speedos and gumboots are not Corey Choat’s usual sporting gear.
Yet on Gumboot Friday he is running up and down Mauao at Mount Maunganui in skimpy swimwear and gardening boots to raise funds and awareness of mental health.
“I don’t like showing my body at all, so I’m not too keen on the speedos, but sharing mental health stories is about encouraging people to talk about their vulnerabilities.”
Choat has been on a running mission since the death of his only sister, Sally, who died by suicide in 2019. Sally left behind her husband and two young children.
“I started running as a way of dealing with everything. It is a good release. I would cry running. But it is also a way of making connections – I started to meet great people.”
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Among those people were mental health advocate Mike King, and his wife Jo, who Choat had lunch with, and that’s when he heard about how the charity provides free counselling for people under 25.
“I decided to focus my running on raising money for Gumboot Friday because its I am Hope charity is a practical way of providing real help by free counselling. The wait times in the public system are huge – so Mike and the team are providing real solutions. They are saving lives.”
So far Choat has raised more than $41,000, and his goal is to reach $50,000 for Gumboot Friday, which he is raising via Givealittle.
Choat will have Sally on his mind, too.
“She is always on my mind. She battled with mental health issues for many years and never quite got the right help. She seemed like she was doing well before she died, and then, she was gone. You never know how people are feeling and that is why I talk about it all the time, because I want to make other people feel comfortable talking about whatever they need to.”
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Corey Choat’s sister Sally died by suicide in 2019, leaving behind her two young children.
Choat is being supported by locals Aaron and Jo Taylor who run a local company called No Ugly. The Taylor’s own daughter suffered from challenging mental health issues, and after experiencing first-hand the complexities of the system, they were motivated to help in whatever way they could.
The Taylors have even supplied Choat’s speedos – putting the No Ugly on the front and ‘gorgeous’ on the back.
They also developed a calming fruit tonic, No Ugly Calm and have been donating $1 from every bottle sold.
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Corey Choat and his sister Sally, who died by suicide
Aaron and Jo said while it is easy to say “Keep Calm & Carry On”, it’s not so easy to implement.
Aaron said they found the situation with their own child tough.
“While we can’t fix the system, we can support the bigger picture by assisting with good nutrition, and we hope that by donating all of our profit from sales of No Ugly Calm until Gumboot Friday, we can help in some way towards the bigger solution.”
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Aaron and Jo Taylor have developed a drink to help with anxiety, called No Ugly Calm, and making donations to Choat’s campaign.
