Chloe Andrew

🚀 DAY 2 OF 1 FOOT FORWARD 🚀

Another day, another step forward. ❤️

Today I got 3.1km done — 1km on the treadmill, 1.8km on the bike and around 300m walking in the pool — plus a 30-minute weights session. 🏃‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏋️‍♀️

But this isn’t really about the kilometres.

I’m walking for the people who are struggling silently.
For the people who feel like nobody would notice if they stopped showing up.
For the people who need someone to walk beside them. ❤️

And I’m walking in memory of my dad, Rodney — my Rocket. 🚀

I wish I could go back and tell him that he didn’t have to carry everything alone. That asking for help wasn’t weakness. That there were people who loved him more than he could ever know.

So this October, I’m putting one foot forward for him, and for everyone who needs a reason to keep putting theirs forward too.

Day 2: 3.1km ✅
One foot forward. One step at a time. 🚀❤️

Day 1 of 1 Foot Forward 🚶‍♀️🚀

In memory of my dad, Rodney 🤍

In 2010, I lost my dad, Rodney, to suicide.

I was only 16 years old and just three months away from becoming a mum for the first time. My daughter, Rorie, was going to be his first grandchild. He never got to meet her.

Losing Dad completely rocked my world. I was heartbroken, angry, confused and far too young to understand how someone I loved so deeply could be hurting that much.

Dad was the person who could always make everyone laugh. He had that class-clown kind of personality and was always the first person to offer a helping hand. He was someone people could count on.

And then suddenly, he wasn’t there.

He missed Rorie being born. He missed my siblings having their children. He missed my sister graduating. He missed my siblings’ weddings. He never got to meet the people we would eventually love and build our lives with.

And from that point on, my mum had to be both our mum and our dad.

Sixteen years later, I still think about everything Dad has missed. There are so many moments where I wish I could pick up the phone, tell him something, hear his laugh or watch him be the incredibly proud Grandad I know he would have been.

My children know about their Grandad. We don’t hide him or avoid talking about him. They know that Grandad is in the sky and that he was too old and sick for this world. They know his name, they know he is part of our family, and in their own way, they know they have a Grandad who loved them before they were even born.

Losing Dad also changed the way I understand mental health. I have personally struggled with my own mental health throughout my life, and I know how the effects of losing someone to suicide can ripple through a family for years.

That’s why I’m taking part in 1 Foot Forward and raising money for mental health in Dad’s memory.

I love the idea of the Black Dog because depression can hide in the shadows. Sometimes you don’t see it coming. Sometimes the person standing beside you, laughing and making everyone else laugh, can be fighting something you know absolutely nothing about.

Mental health has affected all of us in some way, whether we’ve experienced it ourselves or watched someone we love struggle.

So this is my reminder:

Check on your people.

Ask them if they’re okay and don’t be afraid to ask twice.

Be kind.
Listen.
Make the phone call.
Send the message.
Show up.

You never truly know what someone is carrying in the shadows you can’t see.

I know this from the other side of suicide. It doesn’t simply take one person’s pain away.. it leaves pain behind for the people who love them, and that pain can travel through generations.

I’m walking for Dad.
I’m walking for the little girl who lost her dad at 16.
I’m walking for the grandchildren he never got to meet.
I’m walking for my mum, who had to become both parents.
And I’m walking for everyone who is carrying their own invisible weight.

One foot forward, one step at a time, in memory of Rodney.

If you can donate, thank you. If you can’t, please just check on someone you love today.

You never know how much that one message might mean. 🤍