DANIEL O'HARE was, in the words of his younger brother, a "stereotypical 19-year-old North East lad".

"He was popular and always very happy," says Matthew Smith.

"He was always the centre of attention, always making everybody laugh. He was football mad, a massive Newcastle fan. He liked to go out and loved spending time with his mates. He was my role model."

Then, in 2005, with no warning signs to his family, Daniel committed suicide.

Matthew was 10. His younger brother Ben was five.

Almost two decades on, Matthew remains tormented by the question, why? That will never disappear. But neither will Daniel's memory, which lives on through If U Care Share, the charity set up by Matthew in the aftermath of the tragedy.

It started with Daniel's family selling wristbands at North East football clubs, incredibly raising £50,000.

In 2011, If U Care Share Foundation became a registered charity with three main aims: prevention, intervention and support of those bereaved by suicide.

The work of the charity, based in Chester-le-Street, is so incredibly important in a region that still has the highest suicide rates in the country. The team provide practical and emotional support to those affected by suicide as well as individual support to those who feel they need help or are deemed to be directly at risk.

Today, on World Suicide Prevention Day, the charity will have more than 200 people toeing the line at the Great North Run. Matthew is one of them.

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"Running for me is an escape," he says.

"My belief when I talk to people is actually we're all trying to escape things. It might be going on holiday, going out for a drink, we all do things to escape. Some might be good, but there are the negative ones. When things get so difficult that we feel we can't escape, the most irrational thing becomes the most rational.

"No matter how many times I do these interviews and talk about my brother, it doesn't marry up with what happened. That's the difficult thing. Yeah, he was a 19-year-old lad and had the challenges 19 year-old lads have, but there wasn't a one plus one equals two. There wasn't that why. Still to this day we don't really know why he chose to do what he did.

"Nothing can prepare you for that but I had no slither of any preparation because I hadn't experienced any loss before that. When you lose a loved one, the grief you feel is horrendous. When you lose a loved one to suicide it's a different level of grief because there's guilt, there's anger, there's sadness, frustration and that question, why?

"I remember that day and seeing my brother.

"My mam and dad were dealing with losing their son while also trying to deal with a 10-year-old old who had seen what his brother had done and a five-year old who didn't know what had happened and was asking why their brother wasn't around anymore. What do they do?

"It was really tough, really, really tough. I had times where I tried to persuade myself that someone had broke into the house and murdered my brother, because that wasn't Dan."

Football was another route of escapism for Matthew in the traumatic years that followed Daniel's death and football has a powerful role to play in the work of If U Care Share.

The annual Inside Out campaign - which encourages people to wear their clothes inside out for the day, a symbol to get their feelings out in the open and start conversations which can save lives, has been supported by clubs across the region. This year's campaign was launched before last weekend's televised Championship game between Sunderland and Southampton, while players from Middlesbrough and QPR also wore the garments before their game at the Riverside. Inside Out Day is today, and the charity is urging as many people as possible to get involved.

The charity is also a partner of the Premir League, EFL and WSL. Matthew was a visitor to the Riverside earlier this week where he put on a workshop for Middlesbrough's Under-18s.

He says: "We deliver emotional and mental health workshops and work with the players, educating them on the importance of understanding what emotions are and what mental health is and how it affects us."

Middlesbrough, says Matthew, have provided brilliant support. Former captain and current coach Grant Leadbitter is an ambassador of the charity, while academy boss Craig Liddle opened the doors at Darlington for Matthew to put on his first ever workshop at a football club in the charity's early days.

"Football has played a huge part in the organisation's growth," says Matthew, 29, who has put on workshops for clubs around the country.

"The money we raised selling wristbands was fantastic, and also emphasised to me the power of football and the ability that football has to help people have those difficult conversations.

"It's a captive audience and brings people who might not necessarily want to talk about this subject matter into an arena where they're willing to talk about it because it's where they feel comfortable. So, our journey started in the professional game."

Matthew continues: "One of the things that I try to share, everybody told me I had to talk about how I was feeling, and they were right but there's more to it than that.

"Yes, you have to talk about how you're feeling but you have to do it in the way that works for you with a person you feel comfortable with. For me with my parents for a long time I was just telling them what they wanted to hear. I knew the impact it would have if I told them how I was feeling.

"The truth was I wanted to be with my brother, I didn't know what that meant, but I couldn't tell my mum or dad because they'd be constantly on watch. It's really important we think about how we communicate and who with.

"That first step, I am not OK, is really difficult, and it takes courage to say that, whether it's in person, over the phone or via text. But there's always support there.

"I can't lie, it's still tough for me. No matter how much you try to help and educate others, it's a lot easier to deal with other people's difficulties than it is your own. It's a journey that I'll continue to live on and we'll continue on as a family.

"Anniversaries come around, birthdays come around, grief never leaves you."

For more information about If U Care Share and the services they offer or to donate and support the charity, visit https://www.ifucareshare.co.uk/.