The wife of a retired police officer who took his own life is walking more than 3000 kilometres to raise awareness for mental health.
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Donna Bowman's husband Leading Senior Constable Anthony Bowman joined the police force in 1989 and retired in 2010. He took his own life in March last year.
"When he died by suicide, I fell into a hole for a while. But I saw my children's faces and I realised I needed to do something to keep me going," Ms Bowman said.
"I just wanted to raise awareness of mental health issues and remove the stigma around it."
Ms Bowman is not only raising awareness but also funds for the Victoria Police Psychology Unit, which helped her cope with her husband's suicide.
"Members of the unit supported me for six months and kept checking in until I said I was ok," she said.
Ms Bowman started her journey in Geelong on March 18 and has covered up to 70 kilometres per day. She has already walked through 29 towns including Warrnambool, Mildura and Swan Hill.
She will pass through Bendigo during the Easter weekend.
"Victoria Police has a high priority on the mental health of not only their serving members but their members who are no longer in the job," Sergeant Mark Bell said.
"We're finding a lot of people who are retired or resigned are still suffering the effects of what they experienced during their career.
"Victoria Police supports almost every initiative that comes along and in this situation where it is the wife of a member who died by suicide last year, we're doing our best to support her in every way."
Ms Bowman said police officers and other members of the public have joined her through her travels. Sergeant Bell said he expected the same response in Bendigo.
"Easter is a busy time for everybody but I have no doubt there will be police officers out there walking with her," Sergeant Bell said.
"There has been a great response across the state so far and people will be out there walking with her. I will be walking with her on Sunday.
"Other members of the public are also encouraged and welcomed to join. Mental health issues and suicide affects so many people in our society, not just police officers, but everybody."
"We would encourage anybody who wants to donate on the GoFundMe page or support just by walking with Donna or standing on the road when she walks past and yelling encouragement."
Ms Bowman said she would continue to raise money and hold talks in the community to "get the message out there".
"If there's anybody out there dealing with depression or post traumatic stress disorder or has suicidal thoughts, go and talk to someone."
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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