A kind-hearted five-year-old is taking part in a charity walk in memory of her beloved cousin and to raise awareness of mental health.
Sensitive and caring, Emmie Minto from East Kilbride has felt the sadness and grief her family are experiencing after tragically losing her cousin, Garon Dalton.
On Friday, February 5, Garon sadly took his own life after struggling for many years with poor mental health.
Garon was only 22-years-old and was an extremely musically talented young man.
He was hard-working, kind and caring, went out his way to help everyone, and was well loved by everyone who knew him.
And so, Blacklaw Primary pupil, Emmie decided she wanted to help people who were feeling sad, and suggested to her mum and dad that she wanted to do a sponsored walk around James Hamilton Park Loch to not only raise funds for charity in memory of her beloved cousin, but also to spread awareness of mental health.
Proud mum, Emma said: “Emmie picked up on the sadness and grief the family were going through after the loss of Garon.
“Like most children, Emmie asked questions “what’s wrong?” And “why did Garon die?”
“As a family we shield her from the most of it but, as we said, she picked up on things, so we had to explain what happened in a way she could understand.
“Emmie processed this information and suggested to me and her dad that she wanted to do a sponsored walk to help people being sad.
“She asked if she could raise £99 as she believed this was the amount needed to help just one person stop being sad.
“So we set up the GoFundMe appeal in the hope of raising the funds and we are doing a sponsored walk around the James Heritage Park Loch in East Kilbride on Saturday, March 27.”
Emmie hoped to raise £99, but the St Leonard’s youngster has managed to raise £295 already which will be donated to YouthMusic – who have supported the family during this difficult period.
Emma added: “Emmie always called Garon the ‘Music Man’.
“This was mainly because Garon could turn his hand to any instrument and play the most beautiful sounding music you would ever hear.
“As a family, the Youth Music has been close to our hearts since our loss and has helped the family. They help people aged up to 25 develop socially, physically, and musically all around Britain. They help more than 80,000 people every year from all paths of lives.”
On Saturday, March 27, Emmie and her family were set to take to the park to complete her sponsored walk and she will release a yellow balloon into the sky for her cousin.
“Yellow is the colour of suicide awareness so we will be dressed in yellow,” added Emma.
“And at the end of the walk, Emmie will release a sunflower balloon for her cousin in heaven.
“When we had got to £220 being donated, we told Emmie and she said ‘that means one person won’t be sad in the heart anymore’
“All she wants to do is stop others being sad and make people smile.
“Garon wanted us to raise awareness for mental health so as a family we made a promise to him that we would do this.
“We also want to share our story to help others going through the devastation that a suicide brings to a family.
“The stigma attached to mental health must be eradicated.
“It’s okay to not be okay and help is out there. Please reach out if you or a loved one needs it.”
To donate to the cause, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/emmies-walk-for-garon
