An anti-suicide campaigner took her own life as she felt too 'embarrassed' to tell people she was struggling.
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she → take → people
Lara Kynvin, 57, was a leading voice for suicide awareness but felt unable to tell the suicide prevention charity she worked for that she was thinking about ending her life.
Described as 'compassionate and hardworking', Ms Kynvin worked as an advisor to the NHS for mental health as well as a suicide prevention charity, but felt unable to tell them about her state of mind.
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Kynvin → lead → mind
Tragically, Ms Kynvin took her own life just seven weeks after organising an anti-suicide event in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
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Kynvin → take → Portsmouth
She was found dead at her home in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, on November 14, 2025.
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She → find → November
Ms Kynvin campaigned for suicide awareness in Portsmouth after experiencing her own mental health struggles during the Covid lockdown in 2020 and making multiple attempts to take her life.
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Kynvin → campaign → life
After experiencing mental health struggles during Covid, she became dedicated to suicide prevention.
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she → experience → prevention
She worked with multiple charities, was a project lead for Baton Of Hope UK, and was an NHS advisor.
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She → work → UK
Lara Kynvin, 57, was a leading voice for suicide awareness in her city but 'didn't want to admit she was struggling'
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she → lead → city
Ms Kynvin's brother Nick Kynvin told Portsmouth Coroner's Court: 'Lara was particularly compassionate.
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Lara → tell → Court
I was five years older than her, and we had a normal upbringing with the usual sibling rivalry.
'
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we → have → rivalry
She worked in Guernsey in her 20s before coming back to the UK and running a housesitting and dog-sitting service.
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She → work → service
'In 2020 we received a call from a lady she had been working for that Lara was unwell and had entered a lake nearby to kill herself.
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Lara → receive → herself
We picked her up and she seemed embarrassed but okay.
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she → pick → her
I think lockdown had a significant impact on her - she went on to make nine further attempts to take her life.
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she → think → life
'
During one of these attempts, she broke her ankle, which caused her chronic pain for the rest of her life.
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which → break → life
Ms Kynvin was admitted to a mental health hospital in October 2023 and underwent various therapies before being released feeling much better three months later.
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Kynvin → admit → therapies
She then got involved in suicide prevention charities, starting by making a quilt for the charity Speak Their Names, which she took to Westminster to raise awareness around mental health.
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she → involve → health
Ms Kynvin also started working as an NHS Advisor for mental health.
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Kynvin → start → health
In 2024, Ms Kynvin was a 'baton bearer' in Brighton for a charity called Baton Of Hope, which has local community leaders walk through a city holding a baton to raise awareness around suicide prevention.
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leaders → call → prevention
After taking part in Brighton, Ms Kynvin campaigned to have the project brought to Portsmouth, where she was born.
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she → take → Portsmouth
She was selected to be the project lead in the city for the following year and the baton came to Portsmouth on September 26, 2025.
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baton → select → September
Ms Kynvin was pleased with the event, but after the 'very high high', she felt a 'very low low' when the work was over.
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work → please → low
She contacted mental health services, including her GP and the crisis team, but soon stopped engaging with them.
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She → contact → them
She did not reveal the extent of her struggle with anyone.
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She → reveal → anyone
On November 14, 2025, Ms Kynvin stopped answering her phone.
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Kynvin → stop → phone
Two friends went to her home to check on her and found her deceased at the address.
Her death has been ruled as a suicide.
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death → go → suicide
Ms Kynvin was a project lead for Baton Of Hope UK which has local community leaders walk through a city holding a baton to raise awareness around suicide prevention
Hampshire Coroner Christopher Wilkinson said: 'I have heard that she was a particularly caring, compassionate, and hardworking person who did so much in her life to help people after her own experiences with mental health.
'
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who → have → health
She brought energy and dedication to her charity work.'
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She → bring → work
Mr Wilkinson said the commitment to her work brought significant pressure on Ms Kynvin.
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commitment → say → Kynvin
He said the pandemic led to multiple attempts on her life, resulting in her being put into mental health care.
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her → say → care
While she didn't respond to treatment at first, she had a significant breakthrough and was positive and forward-looking once discharged, Mr Wilkinson said.
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Wilkinson → respond → breakthrough
He added: 'She was a stoic and private person, particularly when it came to her mental health.
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it → add → health
I think that's what led her to help others struggling with their mental health problems in the same way she had.
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she → think → way
'But I fear some of that was a distraction to her own mental health.
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some → fear → health
'It was a means to block out some of the struggle she was managing in her own mind.'
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she → block → mind
Mr Wilkinson said he believed that sufficient provision was made for leaders at Baton Of Hope to access help if they needed it, but Ms Kynvin decided not to follow that through.
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Kynvin → say → that
'I think she didn't want to admit she was struggling, especially to a charity whose main purpose was to help those who were struggling,' he added.
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he → think → those
'We know she decided not to engage with health services despite the extensive efforts made to help her.
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she → know → her
'If she felt she couldn't reach out to those who could help her, perhaps from pride or embarrassment, I believe she had that plan [to end her life].
'
uncertain
she → feel → life
Ultimately, she felt she could not go on the way she was feeling.
uncertain
she → feel → way
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
