On January 17th, our dearest Aaron was taken from us too soon after losing his battle with mental health. Since the day of his passing, we have been inundated with stories from family, friends and work colleagues alike on how Aaron illuminated their lives and created memories that would last a lifetime. 

As his family, we are devastated by the tragic decision he took to take his own life. Our world will forever remain incomplete and he leaves a gaping hole in our hearts and burning questions in our minds. In spite of this, we are proud and in awe of how he put aside his demons to spread love, maintain his infectious sense of humour and help others deal with their own issues. 

The irony of Aaron’s story is that whilst he was always spreading love and problem solving for others, he was unable to speak up about his own internal struggles. For reasons untold, Aaron hid these struggles from his loved ones and shunned any opportunity to explore deeper conversations when invited to. 

Inability to speak up on internal struggles is common amongst men under 45 years, where suicide is the second most common reason for death. Every single person who has offered their condolences for our loss has asked if they can “help in any way”. To this we answer, please continue to raise awareness of the prevalence of mental health issues in men today, particularly in the Asian community where men are either too proud to talk of their issues or married to the misconception that talking of their issues will burden the listener. 

One such vehicle to “help in any way” is to offer a donation to Mind, a charity which provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem and campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. As a family who has lost a loved one to mental health issues we hope you can join us in offering our support to Mind. If collectively we can save even one life of someone suffering in the same manner Aaron did, then it would provide some comfort to say he did not pass in vain.

Kainth Family

xxx