Peter Helliar remembers late friend Richard Marsland
Peter Helliar is encouraging Australians to "keep talking and listening" to family and friends about mental health.
On Tuesday night's episode of The Project, Helliar emotionally opened up about the death of his close friend, comedian Richard Marsland, who died in October 2008.
Peter Helliar remembers Richard Marsland. Network 10
Marsland took his own life at the age of 32, just as his career was taking off. At the time of his death, Marsland co-hosted Triple M's Melbourne breakfast radio show with Helliar and Myf Warhurst.
The day before Marsland died, Helliar hugged his friend and told him he loved him.
Richard Marsland, Myf Warhurst and Peter Helliar on Triple M. Triple M
In a segment during The Project, Helliar spoke to Marsland's family and friends.
Marsland's parents knew their son had struggled with his mental health in the past — he had tried to take his life once before, a decade earlier — but thought that he was better.
Ed Kavalee — who co-hosted Get This, a Triple M radio show alongside Marsland and Tony Martin — spoke tearfully about his late friend and colleague.
"For someone like him, with the generosity and honesty he lived his life with, to think that he could have got to a place where he thought people would be better off without him, it's awful," said Kavalee.
Helliar said he wish Marsland had known "just how much I'll miss my friend" for "the rest of my life."
If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
