Couple who lost two children in under a year to walk the North Coast 500 route for five charities

A COUPLE, who lost two children in less than a year, are to walk the North Coast 500 route next month to raise awareness of and money for five charities.

Mother Louise Russell (54) and stepdad, David Christopher, who is 46 tragically lost their son Ciaran to suicide in December 2020 and their daughter Siobhan to septicemia in October 2021 following an operation. Siobhan had previously been a victim of domestic abuse, which led to alcoholism.

Louise and David, who live in Fife, will walk 23 miles a day to complete the popular route and will start off in Inverness on May 2 and head to John o' Groats and the west Highlands before returning to Inverness three weeks later.

They will also mark Mental Health Awareness Week and have discussions with local people during their work, including a visit to Change Mental Health’s service, The Gatehouse, in Golspie.

The couple started a mental health awareness group on social media shortly after their double tragedy to help people find support relevant to their needs. They call it SHADE, which stands for Suicide, Homelessness, Addiction, Domestic Abuse, Everyone.

But they feel that isn’t enough and are walking 516 miles unaided and putting themselves through discomfort and exhaustion to raise awareness and benefit five charities – Papyrus, Crisis UK, DrugFam, The Veterans Foundation and Change Mental Health.

David said Ciaran was 29, had three children and played for a local football team. "He will never know how loved he was by so many people. He was looking towards the future, starting a new job, talking about looking for a new house and starting driving lessons. So why did he do it, why did he think suicide was the only way, why didn’t he speak to someone. These are some of the things we want to change, there has to be another way, there is far too much suicide, far too many people thinking that is the only way."

Siobhan, who was 33, worked as a carer and "always put others first," said David. "She always helped the homeless and had a strong connection to the military after losing her first serious boyfriend in a car bomb attack in Baghdad. Siobhan was the glue of the family and also the glue that held so many other people together. Siobhan, like Ciaran, was loved by so many people."

David added: "We wanted to do something that's going to be challenging and a bit extreme to hopefully raise as much awareness as we can in their memory. We wanted to add to that by having the challenge of camping every night and carrying all of our gear.

"We realise we will be going through pain both physically and mentally. We will be exhausted and, at times, possibly lost but, hopefully, by doing this we will raise awareness of all mental health issues."

The couple have started a Just Giving page to help them fund-raise. The address is: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-louisenc500

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