Man, carrying a 30 kg fridge, summits Mount Kilimajaro

NationalWorld.com

This ex-soldier climbed Africa's highest peak to highlight the challenges faced by those with mental health challenges.

Transcript

00:00 Day 7 and we are on the rooftop of Africa.

00:07 The summit is literally over there in the distance, literally surrounded by snow and

00:17 glaciers.

00:18 My man Joe Amaya.

00:22 My man Bryson.

00:25 Honestly man, some stupid **** ideas I've got but this is definitely up there.

00:44 Day 7 and I am the first man in history to climb Kilimanjaro whilst carrying a fridge

00:52 to represent the burden of poor mental health.

01:08 I am Mike Copeland, also known as the fridge man to a lot of people.

01:14 I am attempting to be the first man to ever climb Kilimanjaro while carrying a fridge

01:19 on his back to represent the burden of mental health.

01:23 It doesn't really matter what it is, the fridge is just a representation, it's a big, heavy,

01:30 awkward object.

01:31 Just like mental health, talking about mental health, it's very awkward, especially for

01:36 men.

01:37 So the fridge represents that burden of mental health and it was basically a conversation

01:43 starter.

01:44 So if I, which I have done before, I've done charity events where I've been wearing a t-shirt

01:49 and no one speaks to you, no one knows what you're doing.

01:52 So the fridge in essence is a way to get people up about their own mental health.

01:57 So on the sides of the fridge there was mental health phrases like suicide, depression, anxiety,

02:02 overthinking.

02:03 So it was almost like a visual representation of mental health, if someone could see how

02:09 you feel.

02:10 I joined the army, obviously that's a lot of physical training, I became a personal

02:14 trainer in the army at PTI.

02:16 And then when I left the army that's when I started struggling with overthinking and

02:23 I started bodybuilding.

02:24 And that was basically my way of getting the structure and the discipline and the routine

02:30 back that I lost when I left the army.

02:32 And that's why when a lot of lads leave the army, they struggle to reintegrate to civilian

02:38 life because they feel lost, they've had this regiment, they've had this discipline, this

02:44 routine.

02:45 A lot of people think I'm absolutely off my head, which is not a normal thing to do, is

02:49 it, carrying a fridge up a mountain.

02:50 But like I said, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, it's the representation.

02:55 I think a lot of people do get it when they see me climbing with this fridge and they

03:01 see all the mental health phrases on the side.

03:03 Some people who are struggling, which a lot of people have come up to me while I've been

03:07 on these training hikes and opened up about their mental health and that's exactly what

03:12 it was intended to do, to get people to open up about their mental health.

03:16 Friends and family, they're proud of me.

03:20 Some people just think it's odd, which it is, it's not a normal thing to do.

03:24 But to get a reaction as such or get people talking about a subject that especially men

03:33 don't want to talk about, it kind of takes an extreme way of getting it out there to

03:41 get people talking.

03:43 We all struggle with our mental health, it doesn't matter whether it's small or major,

03:47 you've got the high spectrum of PTSD, you've got people who have money worries or whatever,

03:54 but mental health is relative, it doesn't care who it affects.

03:57 So all I'd say is try and put these positive outlets in place, help yourself as much as

04:05 you can.

04:06 If you need help, go and get help.

04:08 If you need to speak out, speak out.

04:10 It's a lot better for you to speak out to a friend than then go to your funeral.

04:16 So I think don't be afraid to talk about it, you're not weak if you speak.

04:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended