Everything To Live For
The Australian Women's Weekly|July 2018

More Australian children and young people die from suicide than any other cause. Genevieve Gannon meets a courageous young woman, Molly Koning, who has battled mental health issues all her life and tried to take her own life more than once. For the first time in a long while, she is looking to the future and wants to give others a sense of hope.

Genevieve Gannon
Everything To Live For
 Each morning, Sue Koning would get up to leave her Sunshine Coast home for work with sweating hands and a racing heart. The mother of four would tiptoe past the closed bedroom of her youngest child and only daughter, frightened of what could be on the other side but unable to look in. If Molly had been having a bad week, she would lock her door from the inside. But even when the door wasn’t locked, Sue didn’t want to disturb her teenager’s sleep.

As soon as Sue arrived at the business she and her husband Jon owned, she would urgently log into Facebook, her breath catching in her throat.

“I’d have it open on my computer and I’d be looking at it thinking, ‘She’s not on yet, she’s not on yet.’ And then suddenly – thank God – there’s this little light and I’d think, ‘Okay.’ The only way I’d know she was alive was to see if she was on social media ... For a long time there, we thought we were going to lose her.”

Molly Koning is a beautiful 21-year-old with big, inky-blue eyes and a serious, expressive face. She has a warm, open temperament and speaks with conviction about the roles schools can play in helping young people grappling with mental health issues. “That’s when you can catch a lot of the young kids,” she says.

Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYSe alt
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 mins  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024