As Iain Park sat stuck in school traffic, a fleet of emergency vehicles racing past made him even more desperate to get home.
He knew they were going to his house.
Only minutes earlier, he had called triple-0 after receiving a message from his wife, worried about their teenage daughter.
As he reached the driveway of his home in Mackay in north Queensland, Mr Park was confronted with a scene — now frozen in time for him.
"The street was just packed with ambulance and police cars.
"I walked in the front door, and two cops bailed me up and said, 'You can't go down there,'" Mr Park said.
"I think I knew then."
Family faces lifelong trauma
Ashley Park was 14 years old when she took her life in 2021.
It's a loss that Mr Park is reminded of every day.
"There's always an empty seat at Christmas."
Mr Park said it was difficult to speak about his youngest daughter, but he wanted others to learn from his family's experience and be more aware of the signs.
"Ashley withdrew from a lot of things," he said.
"There was always a reason not to go to school. She quit basketball, which she loved."
Pushing away the pain
Now, Mr Park is raising awareness of mental health and funds for important services like Lifeline.
A friendly challenge between Mr Park and his former footy teams to keep fit during COVID-19 lockdowns has taken on bigger significance as they sign up for The Push-Up Challenge under the banner Team Ashley.
Lifeline Queensland's Luke Lindsay says those funds go directly to training more people to answer calls and texts to the service.
"We've seen around a 20-per cent increase in people reaching out to Lifeline in the past 12 to 18 months," he said.
He said campaigns like The Push-Up Challenge also helped people feel more confident in having direct and frank conversations.
"What we know is that first interaction, that small window of opportunity when somebody reaches out for help, has to be a positive experience, so that person takes the help and moves forward towards recovery," Mr Lindsay said.
Participants of the annual The Push-Up Challenge, which lasts from June 1 to June 23, have to complete a gruelling 3,144 push-ups over the 23 days.
The figure is significant — it represents the number of lives lost to suicide in 2021.
One of those lives was Ashley's.
Mr Park doesn't think about much when he's doing his daily quota — just 10 at a time and counting to zero.
And no location is off-limits.
"One of the days I had to do 180 for the day and it fitted in nicely with 18 holes of golf," he laughed.
"I just hit a tee shot, do 10 push-ups, get to the next ball, hit the shot, do 10."
Death has ripple effects
In the two years since Ashley's death, Mr Park mulls over any possible signs the family may have missed that something was wrong.
He said there was no indication of bullying, but his daughter had started to withdraw from activities she used to love.
Suicide prevention groups, including Lifeline, say signs to look out for include taking less care of appearance, giving away possessions or pets and people engaging in more risk-taking behaviours.
Mental health organisations advise those concerned about the immediate safety of someone to call triple-0
Mr Park said the impact of Ashley's suicide extended far beyond their family.
"It's not just the family that's affected. All the kids she knew, her friends, they've all suffered a loss as well," he said.
"It's an enormously difficult job the paramedics and police do with those kind of call-outs.
"One police officer [who was at the house] said later when I met him, 'People think it doesn't affect us, but it does'.
"You've got to try and compartmentalise things, but it's impossible … we've all got family, we've all got kids'".
The police officer and another of his colleague who attended Mr Park's family home went to Ashley's funeral.
"I've often thought about Ashley, " Mr Park said.
"Whatever it was, whatever her demons were, if she just got through it … in a couple of years she might look back and go, 'That was dumb, it meant nothing.'"
Anyone needing help can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
