Local Faces: Jean Haas
WHEN Kingswood woman Jean Haas’s son Christopher died by suicide in 2013 aged 18, it changed the course of her life – and led to her founding local suicide awareness charity NINA for Life in his memory.
Christopher was a popular young man, who Jean said was “the life and soul of the party”, and his death had a devastating impact on his friends and family.
From a young age, Christopher dealt with a lot of adversity, including the loss of his mother, Beverley Corcoran, to suicide when she was aged 22, and when Christopher was just 18-months-old.
Within a year of Beverley’s death, Christopher’s father, Gary, died in tragic circumstances which led Jean, who was Beverley’s sister, to foster Christopher.
When Jean married her husband Danny Haas, the couple swiftly started formal proceedings to adopt Christopher, which were confirmed when Christopher was five-years-old, at which point the young boy chose to take the surname Haas.
“Christopher went through a lot of tragedy at a young age,” explained Jean.
“My sister’s death and adopting Christopher changed my whole life plan, but he was the most adorable, loveable little man you could ever meet.
“It wasn’t easy, but we loved him and we tried to love him even more to compensate for what he’d been through.”
According to Jean, Christopher had engaged with mental health services throughout his childhood and adolescence, but in the weeks before his death, she felt he had turned a corner.
He was doing a personal training course and regularly went to the gym, and his interests included motocross, rugby and MMA fighting.
“In the weeks before I’d brought Christopher to the doctor, but I didn’t realise that he was still struggling [weeks later],” said Jean.
“He promised me that he’d never take his own life, but then a few weeks later, he did.
I thought he was doing alright, but you never know what’s going on in someone’s mind.
“The morning he died, I went into his room and I said, ‘You know I love you, and you can talk to me about anything’, and he said, ‘I know. I love you, Ma’, and those were his last words to me.”
Less than a month after Christopher’s death, Jean, along with her neighbours in Kingswood, set up NINA [Need Information Need Advice] for Life in his memory.
The use of ‘NINA’ also has a particular resonance for Christopher’s family and friends, as it was his nickname since childhood, which came from when he would walk his family’s German shepherd, Nina, and let her off leash and could be heard around the estate calling out the dog’s name to get her back.
Jean praised the support and proactiveness of her neighbours and the entire Kingswood community in the wake of Christopher’s death, but admitted that his loss caused her to struggle with her own mental health.
“I took to the bed, I wouldn’t go out or do anything,” Jean recalled.
“I was crying for two years solid after Christopher died. “It was just complete trauma and sadness, but the support given to us by family, neighbours and the entire Kingswood community was amazing.”
On days when Jean found it too difficult to carry out voluntary work for NINA for Life, her neighbours would step in, and through her support network and reaching out when she needed help, she’s now in a better place – but added that keeping on top of her mental health is a daily process.
NINA for Life has helped her to keep Christopher’s memory alive, and the voluntary group holds events – such as the sunrise walk at the Kingswood Community Centre on Saturday, May 7 – and has installed ‘buddy benches’ and awarded kindness certificates in local schools.
The group doesn’t have a counselling service, and instead signposts those who need help to various different avenues for assistance.
“To me, if someone is struggling with their mental health, you have to make them feel safe so they can open up to you,” said Jean.
“I wanted to set up NINA with a bit of a personal touch.
“I’ve had people who’ve come to me and said, ‘You’ve treated me like a human, not just a statistic’.”
When asked what advice she would have for people who are struggling, Jean said: “Just to reach out, there are fabulous organisations out there that will help you.
“I’d tell them not to give up, that things do change if you give it time, and people are kind and do want to help.”
As for Christopher’s legacy, which includes a bench in his name in a local park, Jean said she hopes NINA will be a way for him to live on.
“When you lose a child, you never want them to die,” she said.
“I want to keep Christopher’s memory alive, in a beautiful, positive way.
“I don’t think he realised how much he was loved, and how much of an impact [his death] had on everyone.
“I don’t think he would’ve done it, if he knew how much pain it was going to cause.”
If you require support, contact the Samaritans’ 24-hour freephone helpline 116123, Pieta House’s LoCall helpline 1800 247 247, HOPE on 087 136 3082 or Childline at 1800 66 66 66.
