Trigger Warning. This article discusses intentional self -harm (suicide) and mental health struggles. If you or anyone you know is struggling, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
Rugby league great Braith Anasta has opened up about the tragedy of losing his father as a teenager, describing it as the “worst moment of my life” while issuing a powerful message to men.
Anasta features in new documentary In Pieces Together, which follows endurance surfer, mental health advocate and Blake Johnston incredible attempt to break the world-record for the longest continuous surf — a 40-hour effort undertaken to honour the 10-year anniversary of his father’s death by suicide.
The documentary, available on Kayo Sports and BINGE from Wednesday night, features powerful contributions from a range of Australian voices including Anasta, the Inspired Unemployed’s Matt Ford and Jack Steele, NRL player Connor Watson, pro surfer Koda Killorn, TV journalist Laura Jayes, podcaster, sports presenter & First Nations media advocate Marlee Silva, and musician Kobie Dee.
In the documentary, Anasta speaks candidly about the heartbreak of losing his father to suicide as a teenager.
“I lost my father when I was 15 years of age,” he said.
“He went to work one day. It was on a Sunday afternoon, which we’d usually go get fish and chips in Bondi and he just didn’t come home.”
Watch Braith Anasta speak about losing his dad in the video above and the In Pieces Together
Wiping away tears, Anasta said: “Then the hours went by, then my brother went to the workshop with my uncle and my cousin.
“The worst moment of my life and unfortunately I can’t erase it from my mind.”
Anasta, who won a premiership in 2004 with the Bulldogs, said he focused on his football career after losing his dad and didn’t process his grief until later in life.
“I just put it behind me and went, ‘Let’s go, what’s next’,” he said.
“I made the Australian team at 19 years of age. I was one of the youngest to play first grade, made my debut at the Bulldogs. That was all within three years.
“By doing that, it gave my whole family hope. But then in my twenties it just went bang and a lot of that was because the traumas were coming back from not dealing with it.
“You’ve really got to mourn. You’ve really got to grieve and go through it, let all the emotion out and deal with it at the time.
“Not that you can force it but it’s better. Even it takes a while, then you can kind of move on and it won’t come back as hard.”
Speaking to news.com.au, Anasta said it is crucial for people to confront trauma or mental health troubles head-on, instead of letting it fester for years.
“Life is tough, it’s not easy, you’re going to go through a lot. You’ve got cost of living and separations and kids. There’s so many obstacles that everyone has to deal with,” the host of NRL 360 said.
“A lot of men can sort of push it to the side, think they can just power on.
“That doesn’t work. From my personal experience, you know going through such grief and doing that and not dealing with it at the time it can come back to bite you.
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“Everyone deals with it differently but you’ve got to express your emotions at some point and the earlier you can do that and go through the trauma and deal with the tough situations and feelings that you have in life, then the more you can move past it and get to a point where you can actually be your best self.
“A lot of blokes neglect that and for me that’s a big message because unfortunately through my experience and hearing a lot from others it does catch up and bite you, it does come back at some point in your life.
“If you don’t deal with it and you don’t mourn or you don’t speak to someone whether it is a professional or to someone close to you, like a mentor or family member, then the odds won’t go away.”
Anasta said his past had shaped how he approaches being a parent to his two daughters.
“For me, it’s about being present with my girls and also dealing with them emotionally and making sure they’re happy and they’re content,” he said.
“Experiencing your father committing suicide, not coming home one day and never seeing him again — it really makes me more appreciative definitely my mum, but also my kids and making sure that they never feel that way and they never have to experience something like it.
“Something that was so traumatic for me, you can kind of turn into somewhat of a positive and learn from it, you’ve got to. That’s something I think my daughters will benefit from.”
Blake Johnston had a similar message that “vulnerability is a strength”. He urged people to seek help if they are struggling.
“Speak to someone that you trust in, to feel comfortable with. And that can be one of the hardest parts,” Johnston told news.com.au.
“Seek out someone close to you that you can trust and then seek your professional help is essential to the healing process.”
Johnston emphasised: “Vulnerability is strength. Especially with men and there’s a lot of stigma around poor mental health and especially suicide.”
Suicide is the leading cause of death in Australian males aged 15-44.
“The statistics haven’t really changed, have they,” Johnston said.
“There’s a lot of awareness and there’s talk about it as well, but we need to continue on. “Mental health isn’t something that we just do once and move on. It’s everything. The way that we show up and the way that we function, it’s the most important thing.
“These are the conversations that matter and that lead to us living a happy and healthy life. “By sharing our vulnerabilities and then sharing our tools, these conversations become empowering to the other people.
“Sharing stories like mine the people in the documentary is a way that we can let other people know that we’re more alike in our vulnerabilities and the way that they handle our struggles is important to share.”
Johnston has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity through his world record surfs and paddles in recent years.
“It was something that was very important to me to honour my dad,” he said.
“To do it as a surfer and bring in people and have an impact and let people know that they deserve to feel awesome as well and go beyond the conversation and make sure that people are taking action to look after themselves and the people around them.”
IN PIECES TOGETHER premieres on Fox Sports available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel, as well as BINGE at 8.30pm AEST on May 13.
Trigger Warning. This film discusses intentional self -harm (suicide) and mental health struggles.
