2 weeks Ago By Damon Cronshaw
When Beth Fehon died by suicide at age 16, her parents went through unimaginable grief . Login or signup to continue reading Peter and Trish Fehon felt like their world stopped. "We were out in the wilderness for the first 10 years after Beth died," Mr Fehon said.
They searched for an answer, but it proved to be elusive. They started the Beyond Bitumen Rally, which gave them a purpose. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the rally and the 20th anniversary of Beth's death.
The rally has raised almost $4 million for Beyond Blue's 24/7 free support service. This year's rally began in Taree on Thursday and will arrive in Port Stephens on Sunday. An awards and auction night will be held that night at Soldiers Point Bowling Club.
"When we originally started, we quickly realised that the rally raises a lot of money each year," Mr Fehon said. "It's now more important to us that it's a safe environment to talk, particularly for blokes." They say the rally is "a 1500-kilometre conversation in the car with your mates for four days".
"You can have some real conversations," said Mr Fehon, of the Blue Mountains. "Because you're both looking out the windscreen, you're not eyeballing each other, so it's easy to talk." About 100 cars and 215 people are taking part in this year's rally.
Women are in the rally too, but about two-thirds are blokes. Mrs Fehon said the rally was "a fun few days where people can forget their worries and enjoy themselves in our beautiful country". Mr Fehon said he remembers Beth "differently on different days".
"We remember her as a 16-year-old kid. Her mates are coming on the rally. They're now 36-year-olds, married with two or three kids and mortgages.
" Beth died in 2005, two weeks after she started year 11 in the Blue Mountains. Faith got them through the toughest times and they still miss their "darling girl every day". But nowadays they try to think lighter thoughts.
"We now try to think her job here was done, she got an early mark," Mr Fehon said. Mrs Fehon said they didn't know Beth was struggling. "If we had, we certainly would have sought help for her," she said.
"We want people to know that there are people who care and will listen to you when you reach out." Mr Fehon added that while they "didn't see the signs in Beth, we see the signs everywhere now". "We're more attuned to it," Mr Fehon said.
"We see so many people who have anxiety and it manifests in different ways. "We have strong friendships with people who have come on this rally who struggle with depression." Many of those were first responders and defence personnel, who live with PTSD.
"You really see the burden they're carrying," he said. Over the years, several people told Mr Fehon "if it wasn't for the rally, they probably would have checked out by now". Beyond Blue's CEO Georgie Harman said she was "deeply grateful" to Trish and Peter for their "continued support".
"Their dedication and hard work has made a huge difference to the lives of countless people," she said. She said the rally "builds community connections, smashes stigma and sparks conversations about mental health". Health and medicine, science, research, nutrition.
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