“Too many people have thoughts trapped inside them, and some don’t make it past those thoughts. Not all soldiers of life make it off the battlefield.”
Dan Simms
On February 23, Dan Simms turns 24. The following day, he’s walking to Amsterdam to help build the conversation about men’s mental health and suicide prevention.
“Being lonely and in pain is incredibly heart breaking. I’m doing this to save as many men’s lives as possible. If I can be the strength in someone’s life, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Dan will be setting out from Caldicot Castle early on February 24. He’ll walk roughly a marathon a day for two weeks, reaching Amsterdam on Thursday 7 or Friday 8 March.
Dan’s moved around a lot in his 23 years. He left friends behind, and faced a constant cycle of pain and insecurity. He hasn’t had the easiest life and still suffers with multiple issues, but he’s learned to manage everything over the years. He’s also happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Chloe.
Within the last few years, though, two of Dan’s friends took their own lives.
Tom was his best friend through childhood. They lost touch when Dan and his family moved to Canada for a while when he was 10 years old.
“We drifted apart and did our own things, but years later, when I was 18, I thought about dropping him a message and catching up. But life got in the way: one way or another, I never got round to it.
“Tom was found in his bedroom by one of his parents. He’d left this world behind.
“It goes through my head all the time: what if I’d messaged him? What if I’d been the friend he needed? Could I have made that difference? It’ll always be on my mind.
“Tom didn’t make it past whatever difficult thoughts were in his mind. I want to prevent as many people as I can from taking that ultimate step.”
Rory was a friend from the gym.
“I was speaking to him at the gym one Saturday morning. He was happy, excited, fit, healthy. He had a fiancé and his own successful business. He was talking about going to the football match later on.
“That night, he went missing. By the next day, he had taken his own life.
“I felt numb. I couldn’t believe it. Rory was well known in Chepstow, where he lived. Lots of people knew Rory and his dog.”
“I wasn’t able to help either of them in life. I’ll be carrying that weight forever, but now I want to help their families. That’s a big reason I want to do this.
“I want to raise awareness through this walk about how fragile men’s mental health can be: how important it is to speak up, to seek support, and for men to help each other.”
The figures for male suicide are stark. Of 339 people in Wales who took their own lives in 2022, 254 were male.
Men in England and Wales are three times more likely to die by suicide than females.
“My aim is to put a smile back on the faces of people who are struggling,” Dan explains. “I want to help people out, and let them know that there’s a different way to battle through the tough times. I know that there’s help available, as long as you speak to the right people and open up about the things that are trapped inside.
“Because I’ve been lucky enough to make it, I want to help as many as I can to find a way through those trapped thoughts.”
Dan accepts it’s a complex message.
“It’s hard to be a man. We have this ‘duty’ to be strong and crack on, to promote masculinity.
“But part of being strong is understanding yourself, and being able to open up and help yourself, and seek help when you need it. If a man is struggling, I think what will help is to have another person to go to who is strong, and has been through tough times.
“Not everyone knows a strong person. I want to show people how to be a strong person, who cares and wants to help others. I want to help signpost the way to support for men who are in need.”
Why Amsterdam, I ask? Dan explains that he saw a story about someone who walked to Paris. He wanted to emulate the achievement, but not copy it.
“I thought Amsterdam would catch people’s attention”, he says with a grin. “It’s a popular destination, I really want to challenge myself, this will be a tough challenge, and I’ve never been, so I thought, why not?”
It’s a 600km trip (373 miles) on the route he’s taking – across the Severn Bridge to Bristol, Corsham, Oxford, Swindon, and on to Harwich and the Hook of Holland – “though the walk will be a bit less, because of the ferry crossing. But I have a solution to that – I’ll be doing 300 press ups on the boat journey, plus another 700 during the walk. The crossing won’t be a time to relax.”
He’s planning for the UK leg of the walk to take 12 or 13 days, then he’ll have two more days of walking across Holland to Amsterdam.
“Those two days will be the toughest,” he says. “Each day in Holland will consist of nine or ten hours of walking.”
What about accommodation?
“I’ll be staying with friends for the first two nights, but after that I’m on my own. If there’s somewhere convenient, I’ll book accommodation one day at a time. I’m allowing myself some leeway, in case I pick up an injury and need to take an easy day at any point. If I don’t have accommodation, I’ll camp. I’ll be carrying a tent and sleeping bag.”
But won’t it be cold? Dan agrees.
“Yeah, I chose this time of year deliberately to make it harder. I want it to be a lonely and painful experience.
“Mental illness is a lonely and painful experience. This walk symbolises that cold, lonely, dark journey through a mental health crisis. A walk in summer would be too easy. This had to be a proper challenge.”
Dan will be recording a video diary, and documenting his journey on YouTube, as well as posting daily updates on Instagram and Snapchat.
Every day’s walk will be tracked on Strava, with his step count tracked on his phone.
A few people close to Dan will be keeping an eye via a tracker to make sure he stays safe.
As well as financial support for Tom and Rory’s families, Dan will be raising funds for the men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club, and offering one-to-one support for local men who are struggling.
Donate to Dan’s fundraising page, and follow his journey, here.
All images Copyright Leonie Roberts Photography 2024
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