Leah Wone walks the 2024 Conquer the Corrugations for her late mother, Valmay, who struggled to open up about her mental health challenges. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
“I just wish she had the opportunity to see it get this big and maybe be able to talk.”
In honour of her late mother, Valmay, Leah Wone arrived at the 10th annual Conquer the Corrugations with her family by her side.
Like many fellow Conquerors who have lost a loved one to a mental health battle, Ms Wone’s life was forever changed when Valmay took her own life in 2019.
She said her mother was one of the original walkers in 2014, but that she was never one to open up and ask for help.
“She was a very beautiful person and she had the loudest laugh; everyone that you talk to goes, ‘I remember your mum, I remember her laugh’,” Ms Wone said.
“She was just so happy on the outside.
“I think she really struggled with [mental health] and she wasn’t open; she was not big on talking and telling people her problems – she didn’t like anyone to know that she was struggling.”
Despite this year’s walk being her third, Ms Wone said it was the first time the entire family had done it together – a special moment, as she missed the opportunity to participate with her mother.
“I think I first did it in 2017 or 2018, and I left the kids at home with mum and I did it with dad,” she said.
“I remember texting her like, ‘this is crazy’, and she was like, ‘have fun in the heat’, and then we ended up losing her, so I never actually did the walk with her.”
Ms Wone said it was difficult to talk about the tragedy, but added she had found a community among the event participants.
“You get talking along the walk and you find out who other people have lost and then you get to share your story,” she said.
“We look around at all of these people, and you could go up to any of them and talk to them because you know they’re all here because they care.
“Day to day, you don’t just meet someone and say, this is what happened to my mum, so it’s a good opportunity to let it all out.”
She said the annual walk had also helped open up a conversation about mental health in the family.
It didn’t matter whether it was on two legs or four when walkers tackled the 10th anniversary of Conquer the Corrugations to remove the stigma around mental health and celebrate the lives of lost loved ones like Leah Wone’s mother, Valmay. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
Her children were not originally told the heartbreaking truth, but began to ask questions when they saw their nana on a Conquer the Corrugations shirt.
“When we first lost mum, the two big kids were still little, so we didn’t really know how to navigate that – do we be completely honest or do we not? – so we kind of just said nana’s heart stopped and we kind of left it at that,” Ms Wone explained.
“When they started asking questions about Conquer and why their nana’s face was on a shirt, that’s how we kind of did start a conversation with them about mental health.
“We’ve normalised it a lot; I don’t remember mum having chats to me about it when I was a teenager like I am with them, because it wasn’t as common or talked about back then.”
As almost 300 Conquerers turned up in the red dust for the 10th anniversary walk, Ms Wone said she wished her mother could have seen just how many people cared.
“I don’t know if it would have changed her, because she was just such a person that kept it to herself,” she said.
“I’m hoping that by teaching my daughter and sons from an early age, because [mum] wouldn’t have had anything like this back in the 70s and 80s, maybe having that foundation now will show them that they can talk before it ever got to that sort of point.”
Almost 300 participants turned the Peninsula Developmental Road into a sea of colour and mental health conversations on 28-29 September. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
