The Way Back Support Service is designed to support people who have recently experienced a suicidal crisis or attempted suicide.

Naddy is a fiercely independent, driven and focused person dedicated to equipping herself with the personal artillery needed to be the best at whatever she puts her heart and soul into.

Having worked in the mental and allied health sector for over 20 years, Naddy is committed to the recovery of others and the wellbeing of those who support them.

Her journey hasn’t always been easy and in her mid-20s a series of challenging life events without the necessary support led to Naddy surviving a suicide attempt.

Naddy was living on the Gold Coast at the time  in a long-term relationship and a high paid professional position and was grappling with the news she would not be able to have children.

“I fell pregnant, which was a surprise, but then the partner I was engaged to at the time was having an affair and left me. I then lost my job, had lost my relationship and then I lost the baby,” she said.

“Within three weeks I felt like I had lost everything.”

“I felt overwhelmed and like there wasn’t a way forward. I felt like I was being blamed for the relationship breakdown and the loss of the baby and I just didn’t have the right support from networks during that time,” she said.

“Reflecting now I was so lucky that I survived that experience as my housemate who wasn’t meant to be home, ended up coming home early and got me into hospital.”

“I was in a coma for three days and when I woke up the treatment team were concerned I wouldn’t have any cognitive ability, but the first thing out of my mouth was ‘stupidity personified’.”

For many years Naddy felt shame surrounding her experience and it wasn’t until she came across Durkheim’s theory on suicide Naddy started to explore her own lived experience and how that could be used to help others.

Naddy believes her personal experience adds to a shared understanding when clients are experiencing a suicide crisis are referred into her care.

“A peer on the other side can be very powerful because it can alleviate the shame straight away and by sharing and telling my story it can help others,” Naddy said.

Drawn to the mental health sector, not just through personal experience, but by observations of the collaborative nature of the services, Naddy said all the people in the organisations do it for the right reasons.

“The Way Back Service is an extremely well set up, supported and supervised program to be successful, not only for clients but for staff to stay safe and well. As staff we have to let our guard down and sit in the client’s space and make sure they are comfortable and at RFQ we do that very well.”

Family is especially important to Naddy with her partner and son always backing her, working with her and supporting her. 

“I have very special people in my life, we are empathetic and supportive of each other.”

Naddy acknowledges the fragility of life and the value of loved ones and took some time off working three years ago to spend quality time with her sister before she passed, ticking off her bucket list together.

“We went to Tasmania, and all-around Australia, we couldn’t go overseas due to her illness but she wanted a unit on the beach and we did that too – where service people in the industry would visit her, who were my friends too,” Naddy recounts.

“It was a very stressful time but having all of these support staff surround her and us who knew me, it was just amazing,” she said.

“I got given another chance and that’s something I’ve always been grateful for. I celebrate my birthday with gusto every single year.”

Naddy is a Support Coordinator with The Way Back Support Service based in our Metro North office.