The farmer and baby boomer experienced every father’s worst nightmare in March last year.

He outlived a child.

With a resolve to address the stigma surrounding illnesses such as depression and anxiety, Mr Fitzgibbon and his wife Jane launched the Let’s Talk initiative.

The goal – to reduce the shocking death toll associated with this silent killer.

At Framlingham golf club on Sunday, the family was flanked by hundreds of members of the community, all keen to step out for Sam.

“I think we’ve got probably 200 here so I think that’s a good representation of the local community here and they’re all keen to see a change made where people step out and don’t hide anxiety or depression,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“Unless we do more we will get more of the same, which in Australia at the moment we’re losing eight people a day and six of those are young boys.

“One of those boys was my son Sam and that totally broke our hearts.

“It’s something you never recover from.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said while most of the time his son was in good health, he had experienced ups and downs.

“I think that Sam tried to reach out in the last month or so – I will say that most of the time Sam was good,” he said.

“He was unwell and he was using alcohol to hide that and then he got really well and sadly he didn’t realise it was coming and a major breakdown came along.”

Mr Fitzgibbon spoke through tears as he remembered reaching out to his son.

“I asked him what was wrong three times one day. I pleaded with him to tell me and he pointed at his mouth and ran away and I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me,” he said.

On Sunday, the crowd gathered made the decision to step out and vow to seek help if they needed it, offer support to others in need and help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.

Let’s Talk stands for: L = learn self-care, E = express your feelings,T = tell someone, S = someone loves you, T = talk, A = ask how you’re feeling, L = listen, K = keep talking.

Mr Fitzgibbon said he believed there was a lot that could be done to help people experiencing depression or anxiety.

“We can do a lot and go a long way towards helping the people suffering,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to normalise it – it’s just the same as anything else – whether you’ve got cancer, diabetes or illness of the mind – it’s no different – it’s another human illness.”

Mr Fitzgibbon has been personally touched by suicide on more than one occasion.

“I’ve seen a lot of people go past me with suicide,” he said.

Mr Fitzgibbon urged people to speak out if they were experiencing depression or anxiety.

“Tell your friends and your family and get counselling and if you need medication get it early because the quicker you start to get on top of it, the better you will get over it,” he said.

“If you leave it too long, your mind will get in trouble.”

St John of God mental health manager John Parkinson encouraged people assembled at Framlingham on Sunday to make a choice.

He asked people to commit to putting their hand up and talking to family and friends and professionals – if needed – if they were experiencing anxiety or depression.

Mr Parkinson said depression and anxiety didn’t always result in somebody taking their own life, but attitudes needed to change for the incidence of this to decrease.

If you or someone you know needs help contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.​

If you are in an emergency situation, or at immediate risk of harm to yourself, please contact emergency services on 000.