Community & Business
4 August, 2024
Corrine’s legacy lives on
“ALL it takes is one kind word” is the message Corrine Lee Cheu’s family is spreading nine months after her tragic passing.
At only 13 years old, Corrine faced a silent battle with her mental health after being bullied online and at school.
On 13 September 2023, she took her own life, leaving behind a gap that her mother, Jodie Fitzgerald, says will never be filled.
Corrine was a girl filled with love and adventure. Jodie said she spent her childhood fishing, chasing cattle at the station, and spending time with her siblings.
“Corrine had the most loving heart. She would always put everyone’s feelings and needs first. I now say Corrine’s heart was too kind for this world; she had an old-fashioned soul,” she said.
“Corrine grew up always out in the bush, so any chance we got. She loved fishing, and she would always out fish all of us - her big brother Damian couldn’t handle it, and she would give him crap about it all the time.
“She loved mustering cattle … driving the catcher and four-wheeler, and she also loved driving the cattle truck - it’s where she could be herself with no makeup up, no shoes, no one to impress and not care in the world.
“The Corrine I got to see when we were in the bush was the Corrine I miss so much. She just loved life.”
When Corrine returned from the bush back to school, she was met with bullying on the school grounds.
She held her head high and tried to push past it, but then the bullying took to social media, with Snapchat messages calling her mean names and making her feel like she was undeserving of her life.
Jodie said her mood began to change, and she began to cry during the school drop-off. Despite being asked if she was okay, Jodie said Corrine put on a brave face and said she was fine.
“I wish she had told me why she didn’t want to go to school, but she didn’t. Did we take that as a sign? Unfortunately, no. We just thought she hated school like a typical teen,” she said.
“Corrine would get called an ugly rat with pictures of a (rat) over an app called Snapchat, and she would get called ugly and that she wasn’t pretty enough to go kill herself, and I still wasn’t aware until we saw the screenshots on Corrine’s phone after she passed.
“I’d always ask her, ‘Corrine, are you ok, love? Is anyone giving you a hard time?’ she would say, ‘No, Mum, I’m fine’.
“We started noticing changes in her - she didn’t want to go to school. She would cry at the drop-off so that I would bring her home. I had a soft spot for her, and she knew it too.”
Corrine began skipping classes and lessons, and Jodie said she started hanging out with “the wrong crowd.” Her personality began to change, but there was nothing Jodie and her family could do.
Since Corrine’s passing, her family have established a foundation to help get the word out about cyberbullying, mental health and suicide awareness.
The Corrine's One More Light Foundation has successfully raised enough funds from selling raffle tickets and donations to be able to purchase three large signs to continue raising awareness while keeping Corrine's memory alive.
They have also been able to sell awareness shirts through Corrine’s One More Light Foundation Facebook page.
They have also erected signs on Corrine’s “homeland”, Kalinga station and on the Peninsula Development Road, encouraging those struggling to reach out.
“Since losing Corrine, every day is a nightmare. It’s a constant edge emptiness feeling. I constantly need to know where my kids are. If I can’t find them or they are even in the shower, I have panic attacks thinking they have done the same as their sister,” Jodie said.
“I text them throughout the day, and if they don’t reply within a minute, I get more panic attacks and can’t breathe, thinking they are dead.
“It is the worst – it’s a feeling I don’t wish on anyone. Corrine comes from a very caring family. We didn’t have everything but had love and much to give our kids.
“She had her bush life that she loved and siblings that loved her, a family that adored her. We are so broken.”
• If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Bank Services on 1300 659 467.
• For resources on how to support youth, visit headspace.com.au
• To follow Corrine’s One More Light Foundation, visit www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556935387894
