But the impact of their deaths spiralled beyond the borders of their Whangarei high school and laid bare a suicide epidemic that has shaken the highest echelons of government. Mia Dunn Colin Taipari-HerewiniAfter Colin and Mia died, bureaucrats and officials from Northland to Wellington became aware of unprecedented suicidal behaviour in the north and began scrambling to conceal and contain it. Six people aged 25 and under died by suspected suicide within three months in the small Far North town of Kaitaia. The suicide contagion left those who had already lived through the nightmare of 2012 wondering: Where did we, as a country, go so wrong? Free call or text 1737 (available 24/7)

Source: New Zealand Herald July 04, 2017 00:22 UTC