A small act of kindness has allowed Moree girl Maggie Connelly to pay tribute to her school friend Amy “Dolly” Everett, who took her life on January 3 after battling with online bullying.
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Since then, the Everett family has issued an emotional plea for parents to do all they can to stamp out bullying as they fondly remembered their own "kind, gentle, loving little girl".
As Dolly’s memorial was held last Friday in the NT, Maggie’s mother Jodie called for her Facebook friends to wear blue as a mark of respect.
Moree photographer Amy Burling, of Scarlett Arts, saw the post and reached out to the family offering Maggie a free photo shoot (image on front page) inspired by Dolly’s message ‘speak even if your voice shakes’.
Both Jodie and Maggie were blown away by the act of kindness and agreed, viewing the opportunity as a way for Maggie to participate, celebrate and promote the ‘Do it for Dolly’ movement.
“Maggie boarded with Dolly for the last two years. They were thick as thieves at school,” Jodie said.
Pieces of blue chiffon material and a can of blue paint was all the props needed for the shoot last Friday, which turned out simply amazing.
The blue paint was splashed all over Maggie as they spent the afternoon playing around with the material and remembering Dolly for the wonderful, young girl she was.
“Knowing Dolly as the little charismatic person that she was, she would have been having a hoot watching us throw paint at Maggie,” Jodie said.
What was a particularly tough day for Maggie, dealing with a loss of a friend and not being able to be at the NT for her memorial, was brightened by the photo shoot.
“The shoot also promoted a genuine act of kindness on Amy’s part, which is the huge message to come from such a tragic event. For Amy to have the foresight to say ‘I want to help Maggie process this is simply fantastic,” Jodie said.
Amy said Dolly’s drawing with the words had a powerful message.
“I’m 30 this year and I still get bullied but at the end of the day it has made me a stronger person and I hope all the young girls being bullied now know they are stronger and better than those words,” Amy said.
Jodie said it was time to talk about bullying, as well as anxiety and depression experienced by young people.
“I know Dolly’s campaign hasn’t confined itself to just bullying but also addresses those two factors which are a huge and taboo subject.”
Lifeline 13 11 14
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