‘I WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE'

DONNA THISTLETHWAITE NEARLY LOST HER LIFE, BUT IN A MIRACLE, SHE SURVIVED AND IS GIVING BACK

- Courtney Greatrex

Nearly a decade ago, mum Donna Thistlethwaite made a decision that would change her life forever. That decision saw her make an attempt to take her own life. In the process, she broke five vertebrae, a rib and lacerated her liver. Remarkably, Donna was rescued and survived the incident – and it gave her a second chance at life.

Donna, now 53, went on to become a nationally renowned career coach, and also an award-winning mental health and resilience speaker.

She is marking Mental Health Week by encouraging others to consider their own mental health.

“It’s something to think about all year round, but this week is about drawing people’s attention to the importance of mental health and the risks of mental illness,” Donna tells New Idea.

The mum of one says that it was the “perfect storm” of situations that caused her to feel that her family was better off without her.

“I experienced a workplace challenge that activated all of my insecurities. I basically thought that I was a failure, I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t do the job that I was doing,” she recalls.

“I experienced a crisis of confidence and an identity crisis, and it led me to think that the only way I could fix the situation I had got myself into was to end my life.”