Welcome to the John White Charity Football GoFundMe! This GoFundMe will be in aid of Pieta and will be in honor of John White. John was a friend to all, an uncle to his 3 nephews and a brother to his 2 sisters, Fiona and Averil. The Charity Match will be played on the 6th of April at 12pm at Kerdiffstown Astro Park, Naas, Co. Kildare. Thank you for your generosity!

Our brother John would have been 46 years old on Sunday 5th April but unfortunately he took his own life in March.

To say we're brokenhearted is a gross understatement.

Up to a number of years ago, John was full of light and life, open hearted and a ball of energy. He was our own adventurous, lovable, walking accident.

But life dealt him a number of traumas and difficult events. His anxiety grew and grew, and his pain became so intense, he planned to die by suicide.

He admitted this to us and his close friends in August 2023. He then sought medical help.

He also looked for and received help from Pieta House, but due to his referral to a day care centre he could not continue with them.

While John was given medications and advice, the health system didn't have the resources or time to give him sufficient help or talking therapies.

He was hospitalised in late September 2023 after he attempted to take his life.

If we could have taken his pain from him, we would gladly have done so. Instead we had to watch and listen to his pain, his lack of hope, his loss of himself.

John slowly was able to come back to his life with proper medication and some healthcare suport, along with the help of family and friends.

But the healthcare system couldn't give him long term support and he couldn't afford to seek therapy himself.

Life threw him some more curve balls at the end of 2025. He again hid his pain for a number of weeks. When he couldn't hide it anymore, he sought help and he was given medication and recommendations for talk therapy.

The recommendations did not work out due to lack of availability, cost or difficuly in accessing them. We and his friends stayed in daily contact with him, urging him to seek professional help.

But John remembered the torture and pain he endured in 2023. This time he did not admit to us his thoughts of suicide.

On Thursday 5th March he killed himself in his apartment.

We are constantly urged to talk to our friends and family if we have mental health issues or if we suspect others have mental health issues. We talked to our brother and he talked to us. He laid his pain out for us to see. We tried and tried to help him.

But it wasn't enough. In times of mental health crisis, we need professional help and therapy.

Our healthcare system is not equipped to do so.

But Pieta House tries to help by giving free therapy sessions and they are dependent on donations to do so.

John was a huge football fan and shared this love with his nephews, Steve, Charlie and Harri. They, led by Stevie, have organised a charity match in honour of him.

Please consider donating to John's charity match in aid of Pieta House to help those who are in need of help.

Please contact Pieta House if you need help with your mental health or suspect a loved one needs help.

John knew he was loved but his pain grew too much for him to bear anymore. We can't help but wonder if he had received talking therapy years ago what might have been.

We will never know.

Please look for help if you or a loved one needs it.