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Supermarket assistant Michelle Whittington taking on suicide charity obstacle course in memory of late husband Dean

A supermarket assistant is trading shopping tills for running shoes to raise money for a suicide charity.

Michelle Whittington, 29, will take on a 10km obstacle course in aid of CALM after her husband Dean took his own life last year.

The forklift driver, Michelle’s partner of 11 years and father of their four-year-old son Caleb, had been suffering from depression for more than a decade when he committed suicide in May 2015, aged just 31.

Michelle Whittington, 29, will take on a 10km obstacle course in aid of CALM after her husband Dean took his own life last year.
Michelle Whittington, 29, will take on a 10km obstacle course in aid of CALM after her husband Dean took his own life last year.

Now Michelle, who lives in Dartford, is preparing for The Royal British Legion Major Series at Eridge Park in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday .

“Dean had been suffering from depression for a long time and had been receiving counselling but had never stuck to his medication,” she said.

“There had been a few cries for help in the past but we were completely devastated by what happened. Mental illness, depression and anxiety can happen to anyone and has no doubt affected someone close to us all.

Dean Whittington with son Caleb.
Dean Whittington with son Caleb.

“The CALM charity does fantastic work to help to prevent male suicide and depression and I wanted to raise as much awareness and funds as possible to support them.

“I decided to take on the Royal British Legion Major Series with my sister and her partner as I have never done an obstacle course before and I thought it sounded ideal as it will be challenging and a lot of fun too.”

Michelle and sister Danielle have already raised more than £1,300 for the cause, with further donations accepted at justgiving.com/Danielle-Breen.

The sisters are among almost 3,000 people expected to take part over 5km or 10km, with the course of more than 30 obstacles.

You can find out more about the series at majorseries.com/events/south. For more information about CALM, visit thecalmzone.net.

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