The chairs that save lives
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses suicide, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you’re not alone. Help is available:
• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au
Stuart spent years building a successful life as a publican and father, but a message from his wife in Taiwan triggered sudden suicidal ideation that fundamentally rewired his brain. A planned suicide attempt was interrupted by police; since then, the thought returns like a light switch whenever life gets hard. Rather than medicate the intrusive thoughts away, he found his anchor: Just One Reason, a single thing worth staying for. That concept became a book, then a pub designed to make mental health conversation inevitable. Now, from a hospital bed recovering from a second spinal surgery, he is mapping a vision to create 10,000 accidental counsellors across Australia in 90 days, starting with the simple act of showing up, being present, and asking someone if they’re really okay.
Stuart O’Neill is a country publican from Northern New South Wales who reopened a shuttered rural pub as Australia’s first mental health pub, intentionally designing it as a space where conversations about suicide and mental health happen naturally. He is the author of Just One Reason, a book about finding a single anchor to survive suicidal ideation, and is currently writing Bloke Emu while recovering from spinal surgery in hospital.
In this Kintsugi Heroes conversation with John Milham, Stuart shares the story behind the moments below.
🎙️ IN THIS CONVERSATION:
• Suicidal ideation can become a permanent feature of your brain wiring after a single trauma, resurfacing whenever difficulty strikes; medication alone does not switch it off.
• Just one reason is enough to survive another day; the reasons can be trivial or profound, constant or instinctive, but they accumulate into a track record of choosing life.
🕒 CHAPTERS:
00:00 The message that changed everything
02:16 Country publican, footy shorts and vision
07:06 The justice gene and early defiance
13:23 Taiwan, the dagger, and a turning point
18:07 The book born from a coffee shop
23:46 Why people slip through the cracks
34:10 Living with the light switch
42:18 The pub as proof of concept
49:02 Real people, not academics
53:56 Finding the leaders in crisis
59:27 The 90-day vision: 10,000 chairs
1:04:53 One reason to keep going
🎧 If this story moved you, follow Kintsugi Heroes in your podcast app so you never miss an episode.
📌 RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Lifeline: lifeline.org.au
Men’s Line Australia: mensline.org.au
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ABOUT KINTSUGI HEROES
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Welcome.
We’re glad you found your way here.
Kintsugi Heroes was created from a simple belief: every person has a story worth sharing, and sometimes the story we need to hear arrives exactly when we need it most.
Our name comes from the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold. Rather than hiding the cracks, they are honoured as part of the object’s history. We believe people are much the same. The experiences that challenge us, break us, shape us, and help us grow are often the very things that connect us to one another.
This channel is home to honest conversations about resilience, hope, grief, recovery, courage, love, and what it means to keep moving forward when life doesn’t go to plan.
Here you’ll find six podcast series, each sharing stories through a different lens:
• Kintsugi Heroes, hosted by John Milham
• Animals & Us, hosted by Natalie Stockdale
• Grit Diaries: From Grit to Grace, hosted by Simone Allan and Maryan Bova
• From There to Here, hosted by Emma Bellamy-Dodd
• Golden Threads: Stories of Disability & Resilience
• Pride in Stories, hosted by John Dwyer
Every story shared here is offered with the hope that it helps someone feel a little less alone. A little more understood. A little more connected.
Whether you’re navigating a difficult season, supporting someone you love, or simply looking for meaningful conversations, you’re welcome here.
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Thank you for being part of this community.
We help people tell the stories they need to share so others can discover the story they need to hear.
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