Daves' Days Out

[10ClarionSt]

Dave was very popular at work. He was one of those rare union reps that had the ability to reach mutual agreements for all concerned. He was liked just as much by management as his members. But Dave had a dark secret. He was a manic depressive. No-one knew about this until one day, Dave clocked in, then went missing. Staff searched everywhere for him, to no avail. They checked at his house, but he had not gone home. It was 5 hours after he clocked in that he was found at the bottom of the service lift shaft. Apparently he'd attempted suicide but amazingly, despite the fall, he'd only broken his arm and had bad bruising. He recovered and was back at work in 3 months. Then came Christmas. A really bad time for him. He went missing for 3 days. All his colleagues went out searching for him. They found him in an abandoned farm building, uninjured but suffering from exposure. Nobody knew the cause of his depression. He wouldn't say. Having recovered, then returning to work, 4 months later Dave took his own life. Everyone that knew him was devastated. At his funeral, his wife gave everyone a small glass pebble and asked them to think of Dave whenever they saw it. My daughter took hers with her on a swim in Salford Keys and posted on FB that Dave was going for a day out with her and some friends. Dave's wife was deeply touched. So now, all his colleagues from work take their pebble with them and so, take Dave on a day out or on holiday. Such was the respect they had for him. They still don't know why he was so depressed but they will never forget him. How many more people are suffering depression at this moment? Dave will live forever with these people.

[Mamyalynne]

Long may Dave have his days out and never be forgotten by those who knew him.x

Thank you for sharing that.

[marval]

Thank you Clarion, a sad tale, but hopefully memories of him will live on.

[gness]

Thank you, 10C....sad but very lovely....x

[wolf63]

Is this a true story? If so it is sweet. It shows Dave to be a normal and fun human being.

Mental health and suicide are very misunderstood by people and they don't understand that many of the things that a Manic Depressive does are out-with their full control ~ or 'seemed a good idea at the time' .

Thanks for posting this - talking about things surrounded mental health is a good thing. Especially for teenagers who are going through a hormonal upheaval and depression/anorexia etc.

[jourdain2]

Mental health is so misunderstood. Thank you for the post.