The grieving mother and sister of Shauna and Michelle Reilly – the beautiful, young Enniskillen sisters who recently died by suicide within eight weeks of each other – will take part in the Darkness Into Light walk in Lisnaskea this Saturday morning.

“We want the girls remembered for the bright, beautiful girls they were and not how they died,” Emma Reilly told The Impartial Reporter.
“As a family our whole world has been turned upside down and ripped apart through suicide. Losing both my sisters so quickly and so soon together has changed my life forever. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and an epidemic that requires intervention at grassroots level,” brave Emma added.

Darkness Into Light is the annual fundraising and awareness event for Pieta House, the Dublin-based suicide and self-harm crisis centre. Every year Darkness Into Light events take place at 180 locations across the globe. Beginning at 4.15am, participants will run or walk the 5K route and will cross the finishing line as the sun comes up.
The Lisnaskea event is organised by The Oak Healthy Living Centre, which is one of Pieta House’s charity partners.

“Pieta House and The Oak Living Centre both work with those in despair and those bereaved through suicide. Help us beat the stigma of suicide,” commented Emma, who can be sponsored through the Darkness Into Light webpage (dil-lisnaskea.everydayhero.com/ie/emma
Emma and her mother Jacqueline have already raised £3,000 and hope to raise much more for the worthy cause. They have received confirmation from Darkness Into Light to say they are among the top 40 fundraisers across the world and among the top five in Ireland.
“We decided to do the walk in memory of Shauna and Michelle. We felt it was a very worthy cause, and anything that raises awareness and reduces the stigma [around suicide] is vital, especially in Fermanagh,” said Emma.

“The idea of walking from darkness into light is a comfort in that others might find solace and peace within themselves,” she added.
Emma, who this week returned to her job as a nurse in the Bridgewater Suite Haematology Ward in Belfast City Hospital, voiced her gratitude to everyone who has donated so far.

“My own work colleagues raised £600 alone! It amazing and we are so grateful to everyone who has donated,” she said.
It will be a very emotional morning for Emma and Jacqueline, who will be joined by Emma’s aunties Claire and Kate, her boyfriend Gerard Hicks and a number of cousins from Monaghan and Skerries. Father Raymond Donnelly, curate at St. Michael’s Church, Enniskillen will also join the Reilly family this Saturday.

“He has been absolutely amazing and wants people to feel they can talk openly about mental health and suicide,” said Emma.
Thirty-year-old Emma concluded: “We know that the event will be emotional. It will be 12 weeks from the day Michelle died and 19 weeks since Shauna died. It’s still very soon and still very raw but we have found amazing comfort from the daily messages and cards we still receive. This is our way of thanking those who have continued to support us but also to emphasise how important the need is for suicide awareness and prevention is in Fermanagh.”