Exclusive: Robin Bailey says, “my armour is on and I’m fighting.”
In September last year, Robin Bailey’s husband, Tony Smart, took his own life. He left behind Robin and their three sons who were aged 14, 12 and 10 at the time. Tony had been struggling with depression for many years but his death was sudden and unexpected.
Robin, who is co-host on Brisbane’s 97.3fm Robin, Terry & Bob, was left shattered by the death of her husband.
Watch below for the full interview
In this interview, Robin Bailey talks to Mia Freedman about the very unique trauma of suicide and how it’s unlike any other type of bereavement. She opens up about the days and weeks after Tony’s death and the effect it’s had on the family he left behind.
She reveals the surprising decision she made for her boys after their father died and how she is helping all three of them through their grief while simultaneously navigating her own.
Robin is also adamant that neither she nor her boy will be defined by their father’s death.
“My armour is on and I’m fighting,” she tells Mia in an extraordinarily brave and emotional interview, the first in a series of one-on-one interviews Mia has done for Mamamia TV called No Filter.
Watch more from Mamamia TV here.
If you or a loved one need to talk to someone, please consider calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Watch more from Mamamia TV here.
Top Comments
Robin,
My husband committed suicide a month ago leaving behind a 13 and 14 year old son. Your interview has given me hope. Hope that there is some light and the end of this dark tunnel. I thank you so much for your opened and honesty.
As I posted below the reason why Australia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world is because there is so little mental health funding. There is hardly any help for those who are seriously depressed, mentally ill or suicidal. Even in the city of Sydney there are so very few beds available in hospitals and suicidal patients are sent home very quickly - often to succeed at suicide. Australia needs to wake up quickly and start funding mental health services or thousands more will die.