A campaign co-launched via social media yesterday by Rethink Mental Illness, to help a mental health campaigner find a stranger who prevented his suicide six years ago, has created a flurry of visitors to the charity's website in just 24 hours.
Jonny Benjamin (pictured) has started the campaign, exactly six years after an unknown man talked him down from a ledge at London’s Waterloo Bridge. Benjamin was determined to jump after being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. He has since turned his life around to become a successful video blogger and an ambassador for Rethink.
Paul Jenkins, CEO of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “We are so proud to have Jonny as an ambassador. He’s an inspirational person who has done so much to reach out to others, and let them know that it can get better and that you can recover from mental illness. We will be doing everything we can to support him in his search.”
The campaign has been named ‘find Mike’, after the man who Benjamin credits for saving his life. However Benjamin does not actually know the stranger’s real name.
Yesterday, Rethink's website received over 10,000 visitors, three times what would be expected on an average day, and the story recieved over 2,500 shares on social media.
Rethink has seen a huge number of new followers on Facebook and Twitter.
A spokesperson from the charity said: "The campaign has captured the attention of media outlets up and down the country and we have had press coverage in Europe too.
"It just goes to show that there is a real need to highlight male suicide!"
The hashtag ‘find Mike’ trended on Twitter yesterday morning and again this morning in the UK.
In response, Benjamin has tweeted: “Wowzers #findmike is trending! Please keep the campaign going. It's about raising awareness of suicide which takes 16 lives a day in the UK.”
Benjamin is making a documentary film about the search, which he hopes will inspire others who are struggling with mental illness.
Benjamin said: “The empathy, belief and determination that passerby showed me, gave me hope. I can’t remember much about how he looked but he seemed to be a few years older than me and was on his way to work.
“He looked like someone who was leading a normal life, which was something I really wanted at that point. He told me he’d felt the same way as me in the past, but had got better.
“His act of kindness changed my outlook on life and I have thought about him ever since. I want to find this man so I can thank him for what he did. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
Benjamin started the campaign yesterday by handing out flyers on the same bridge where he almost ended his life.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has also backed the find Mike campaign. He said: “I hope Jonny’s inspiring story will highlight the fact that mental health is everybody’s business - in this case the compassion of a stranger helped to save a life.
“Facing up to a mental health problem is hard for the person suffering, often in silence. But it is a challenge to everyone else to support them, just as you would with any other health problem.”
