Well known Melbourne luxury car dealer Nick Theodossi is walking one foot forward to support Australians impacted by mental illness and suicide.
The Greek Australian businessman is walking a total of 350 km and has raised over $14,000 thus far, surpassing his goal of $10,000.
He is raising funds for Black Dog Institute, so they can put ground-breaking new mental health treatment, education, and digital services into the hands of the people who need them most.
Every day in Australia, nine people die by suicide and one in five people experience symptoms of mental illness.
Theodossi spoke to Neos Kosmos about why he supports the cause, something he has done for years.
“I’ve had a couple of friends who have committed suicide over the years and I understand mental health because I did have mental health issues myself,” he says.
“I suffered, it was something that was dear to my heart, so I wanted to help others.
“People see you as a businessman, and you might have a bit of wealth about you and everything looks terrific on the outside and it’s very difficult to explain how it comes about, but it does come about in your life.”
Walking for Black Dog for three years, Theodossi has been supporting mental health bodies and fundraisers for much longer, over 15 years.
This year he is walking for, former AFL player, coach and media personality Danny Frawley, who passed away in 2019.
Theodossi was good friends with Frawley, from their time working at Collingwood and Richmond, Frawley a coach and Theodossi working for the coaches.
He says he “loved” Danny’s company and the two would often meet, speak about their mental health and meditate together.
“Last year, I walked for everybody, but this year I want to walk for Danny [Frawley]. Any contribution that I can make towards it going in the right direction, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be doing it.”
When asked about the time he spent in football, Theodossi looks back and realises the mental health issues footballers faced.
“You’d see people struggling especially boys that played in the reserves and couldn’t get senior games and you ask the question, were they struggling through mental health?”
“I look back now, and I’d say yes, they were more so than struggling through their ability to play the game. They could play the game alright, but their mental side was getting them down.
“There wasn’t much about mental health back then, no one really spoke about it too much in the 80s and 90s.”
Talking about his own struggles, Theodossi shares that his 90+ year old parents would never know he was dealing with mental health problems.
“I’ve never bothered telling them because they wouldn’t understand it. Their mentality would be, you’ll be fine – what’s wrong with you? Go back to work.”
He says he wouldn’t tell them but if they were to end up reading this particular story in Neos Kosmos, he’s happy to discuss it with them.
“Old Greeks, old Italians, they’re from different era and were brought up differently. They worked through it and their relief was probably through drinking, but most of those blokes died early too. Folks dying in their 60s, in their 50s and we thought they were old when we were kids.”
On December 3, Theodossi will be doing a 10km run for Beyond Blue and as for the Black Dog campaign, he’s set a new goal of $16,000 for now, but says it isn’t about who wins the race with the money raised, as those who even raise a couple of hundred are doing enough.
For more information or to support Theodossi’s campaign, you can visit his page.
