Man turns tragic loss of best friend to suicide into urgent outreach to lonely strangers
He said the groups have “talked about the difficulty of living in a big city and feeling isolated, but nothing is off the table — we’ve spoken about everything and anything. To give people a place that they can go when they need to talk is incredible.”
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Perryman said he has about 200 more events already lined up — and said he has no plans to stop scheduling them, SWNS reported.
He said there is no pattern in terms of who shows up. Usually, it’s a diverse group of people.
Perryman, right, has been asking people he doesn’t know to sit with him in pubs as part of his “Empty Chairs” suicide prevention campaign. (Dean Perryman/SWNS)
“Every Empty Chairs event you go to, you are going to meet people of different walks of life,” he said. “It is so powerful to show that, no matter who you are, there is a place for you. We have everyone — men, women, young, old. There really isn’t a barrier to entry for this. Whoever needs the space is welcome to come.”
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He also said, “A lot of people come because they’re feeling lonely in a new area, or they want to make new friends.”
He said he hopes that his Empty Chairs campaign can be a lasting legacy for his best friend, Rob — someone he believes needed a similar space.
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“He was the kindest, sweetest guy you could ever hope to meet,” said Perryman. “Like a lot of men, he wasn’t the biggest sharer. He was very much the life and soul of anywhere you went, but he wasn’t someone who would be the first to open up about it if he was feeling some type of way.”
“To now be in a position where Empty Chairs looks like it could be a legacy for Rob is amazing,” Perryman added.
Kelly McGreal is a production assistant with the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.
Article source: https://www.foxnews.com/health/man-turns-tragic-loss-best-friend-suicide-urgent-outreach-lonely-strangers