The mum and sister of Broadstairs man Gabriel Farmer, who died by suicide in May 2023, say they are ‘heartbroken’ and angry that a reel featuring Gabriel and an actress pretending to be his sister is being used by a suicide awareness hoodie company as a marketing tool.
Gabriel’s mum Louise Knight was horrified to see how the video had been appropriated by UK registered company Live 2 Live Ltd.
The reel was originally posted to tiktok by Louise and shows Gabriel dancing two weeks before he took his life with the message that mental health struggles can be invisible.
Gabriel lost his life to suicide on May 14 aged just 23. Louise had desperately sought support but Gabriel was left without the professional intervention that may have helped him. He had been incorrectly discharged from QEQM Hospital as ‘low risk’ after a suicide attempt and sadly took his life just eight days later.
The original reel has had 17.2m views and Louise says it carries a powerful message that she is happy for people to share if it highlights mental health issues.
However, the use by Live 2 Live – a company registered in the UK this year with one director, 27-year-old American Alexander Sung – alters the video to add a woman claiming to be Gabriel’s sister to promote the sale of the ‘mental health awareness’ hoodies.
Louise said: “I got up this morning and had been tagged in this video by people.
“The woman in it is not his sister and Lilli (Gabriel’s sister) is heartbroken and furious.
“It is the video I put on tiktok about two years ago and it went viral.
“I know people use it and I don’t mind if it is promoting mental health but I was watching this and it came to this girl saying “my brother” and it is just not ok.
“People do not make these hoodies for free and this company usually only gets about 400 likes but this video has 4.3k with people underneath saying they are so sorry for the family but it isn’t his family and we knew nothing about this.
“On top of everything, this isn’t nice and it’s not ok.
“They are making money out of other people’s pain and doing in a way as to make out they care about mental health and suicide awareness.”
Louise says she has made contact with Live 2 Live but has not yet received a response. She also questions how much, if any, of the profit from the clothing sold goes to mental health charities.
She added: “That video shows a girl that doesn’t even have any grief in her eyes and describes Gabriel as ‘goofy’ which is not a description of him at all.
“We want an apology and we want the video taken down. It has upset us, upset a lot of friends and a lot of people who have lost loved ones to mental health. I am strong and Lilli is strong but there are people going through this that are vulnerable.”
The Isle of Thanet News is not sharing the manipulated reel published by Live 2 Live.
On its sales website Live 2 Live company describes itself as: ” a movement dedicated to making a difference in the lives of those who need it most.” No details are shown to say whether profits from sales are used to help mental health charities.
In response to an enquiry from The Isle of Thanet News, Live 2 Live has apologised and said the reel will be removed.
They added: “We want to sincerely apologize to Gabriel’s family and loved ones for the distress caused. It was never our intention to cause harm, and we deeply regret the impact this reel has had.
“We are taking immediate action, the video has been taken down, and we are addressing this with the contracted editor who made the reel and team to ensure this does not happen again.
“Our mission has always been to raise awareness with compassion and care, and we take this incident very seriously.”
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Totally disgusting. No other words. I feel for the family.
Totaly agree-Cant put in to words. How people can be so evil.
Every other day there is yet another dodgy charity up and running.
Door-to-door clothes collections are a scandal. Operated mostly by immigrants, you can see them transferring lorry to lorry along Palm Bay.
None are official charities but registered under the gaming and lotteries act. Charity income (say) £150,250. The CEO and other directors will take £150,000 and the ‘designated charity’ will receive £250
We should only allow registered charities to collect money with registered staff and open books for all to see. Make any other form of ‘so called charity collections’ illegal.
I have been a volunteer with “registered” charities in the past and make no mistake about it, being Registered is no protection against fraud! Myself and about 10 or 12 other Trustees from a national animal charity resigned en mass about 15 years ago, after we discoved widespread fraud! My bank account was hacked 3 times last year, by a volunteer in a charity, after I phoned in extra donations, Duurh!
I have been a volunteer with “registered” charities in the past and make no mistake about it, being Registered is no protection against fraud! Myself and about 10 or 12 other Trustees from a national animal charity resigned en mass about 15 years ago, after we discoved widespread fraud! My bank account was hacked 3 times last year, by a volunteer in a charity, after I phoned in extra donations, Duurh! I am always cautious about fraud claimes, and I have never mentioned this before!