It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the recent passing of Michael Appleton. Michael was a long-time friend of TheMHS and a powerful advocate for elevating the influence and participation of those with a lived experience. He was a part of the very first TheMHS Consumer Day in 1994.
Paula Hanlon, a close friend of Michael’s, was kind enough to share this written memorial to Michael and his life’s work.
“Michael was an adolescent when he entered the mental health system in the late 60’s. There were no specialist units at the time and young people shared adult units, subjected to trial medications and other treatments with unknown impact of the young brain.
Michael had two clear goals in his life. The first was to make sure people entering the mental health system today would have a better experience than him. The second was to make six people smile and six people laugh every day. In his last days, I affirmed to him that he had achieved his goals and that we are very thankful for his time on this earth.
In 1992, Michael was invited to join a committee to oversee the closure of Gladesville Hospital. By the end of the committee’s work, Michael had brought in so many more people living with mental health issues that they outnumbered the clinicians and bureaucrats.
He founded the Ryde Consumer Network in November 1993 and was a founding member of the Northern Sydney District Consumer Network in February 1994. Michael was employed in both Sydney Area Health Services and with Northern Sydney for several years, but he always maintained his voluntary participation. Michael became a Consumer Advisor and was a proud member of the Ryde Hospital Consumer Advisory Committee, providing a voice for those living with mental health issues.
It is due to the wonderful systemic advocacy and examples of how consumers could be peer supporters and advocates that the employed positions many of us enjoy today came about. I am one of those who developed under Michael’s leadership at the Ryde Consumer Network, initially as a volunteer (1995-1997) and then as an employed peer worker since January 1998. When we came to review the achievements of the network, we estimated the membership was close to 150 people, many of whom went on the study or enter employment, often as peer workers themselves.
Michael was a regular attendee at the TheMHS Conference, sharing his journey through his recovery. Michael was at the first Consumer Day at the 1994 TheMHS Conference. He valued the participation and the camaraderie of the peer relationship. He made friends inside the presentation rooms and outside with the smokers. He would say he learned a lot from those informal chats and took every opportunity to share the work we were doing at Ryde.
Michael was my best friend, travel buddy (we had some amazing holidays) great supporter and ideas man. He remained a peer supporter, advocate and volunteer right to the end. He was a vibrant character with a sense of humour that he shared every day, in particular as a member of the monthly No Suppression Group and Mad Pride events. We will miss him terribly and commit to continue his legacy into the future.”
A few words from TheMHS Executive Director, Peter Gianfrancesco.
I had a personal connection with Michael going all the way back to when he established the Ryde Consumer Network. At the time I held a leadership role within the clinical service and I had the great pleasure of watching Michael break new ground, build power equity with the clinicians around him and nurture the introduction of many more consumer advocates. He drove real change at a local level and this change directly improved the care that people received. He taught me and many others how to share power and work together.
Importantly, he was able to maintain the right balance between mischief, humour and fierce advocacy. This endeared him to so many people. His recent Celebration of Life was testimony to this with so many of the strongest lived experience advocates and clinicians coming together to honour and remember him. Bringing people together in laughter, purpose and colour was his legacy and I am so grateful for what he did.
