Chris Duke knows all too well the mental health challenges young men can face. In the space of just six weeks in the middle of last year, the 36-year-old lost his mother and then he and his pregnant wife lost their first baby of around 20 weeks. A Detective Senior Constable with the WA Police Homicide Squad, Mr Duke is also acutely aware of the terrible trauma he faces on a daily basis.
That’s why he’s taking on the Lift The Load challenge, to show that young men don’t have to go it alone when it comes to their mental health. With the entire month of October marking mental health awareness month, Mr Duke is one of thousands of people across Australia who have signed up to the Lift The Load challenge – which helps raise funds for the young men’s mental health charity, the Top Blokes Foundation.
The Lift the Load challenge sees participants run or walk whilst carrying a 10kg vest for 50km during the month of October. Since 2021, those who have taken part in the challenge have raised more than $800,000.
In an interview with The West Australian this week, Mr Duke — who is taking part in the challenge for the second year running — said the “weighted nightmare” he experienced last year by losing his mother and unborn daughter had spurred him on to take on the challenge last year.
“I got through that period and decided that I needed something constructive to do …something worthwhile,” Mr Duke said. “That’s when I came across the Lift The Load challenge. The challenge itself really appealed to me, running 50km with a weight vest on sounded absolutely horrendous, difficult and challenging, and in the end, it was.” “But it was a really good goal to set for myself… it felt really rewarding.”
Mr Duke — who recently became a father for the first time — said he was hopeful of raising at least $1000 this year. He was able to raise more than $1700 last year. The 36-year-old police officer — who plans to clock up his 50km target by running — said raising awareness about mental health issues was important to him.
“Mental health is the root of a lot of grief and heartache across the entire community,” he said. “I think in this country we have got a bit of that macho culture of ‘toughen up’ sunshine, ‘get over it’… which doesn’t serve anyone.” Mr Duke said young men should remember that as they get older and gain more life experience, they can always make it through the tough moments.
“If everything that happened to me last year had happened to me 20 years earlier or 15 years earlier, there is probably a good chance I wouldn’t have made it through,” he said. “Just having that perspective and life experience and that support network that I have been lucky enough to build over the years really got me through it. “Now, I just want to do the right thing for young blokes who aren’t yet at that stage in life. “They need to remember that those tough times are not going to last forever and you will come out the other side.”
Melissa Abu-Gazaleh, founder of the Top Blokes Foundation, said she hoped Mr Duke’s story would inspire and help others.
“We’re so thankful to Chris and all our participants for taking on the Lift the Load challenge. Their efforts not only help raise funds, they also drive awareness of the mental health challenges facing young Aussie men,” she said.
