A Cork-based psychotherapist has dedicated a prestigious award to her brother, who died in a shocking hit-and-run incident on the Kinsale Road.

Dr Susan Lawlor co-founded a mental-health charity, State of Mind Ireland, with her brother, Dr Martin Lawlor, a top consultant psychiatrist, in 2013, to improve mental health and the working life of sports players and sporting communities.

The joint initiative with University College Cork (UCC), the Health Service Executive (HSE), and the Centre of Recovery and Social Inclusion (CRSI) consisted of State of Mind Ireland and the team striving to improve mental health and wellbeing in sport.

Since her brother’s death on the Kinsale Road on December 16, 2018, Dr Lawlor has been doing everything she can to carry on his legacy. She recently received the World Dignity Health Community Champion award at the World Mental Health Congress London, which brings together leading experts.

Dr Lawlor was cited for her outstanding contribution in the “fight for mental health and wellbeing for all, with equality of treatment and dignity in experience”. She also honoured her brother’s memory by studying for the master’s in psychotherapy and counselling that he had not completed before he died. She excelled in her studies, gaining first-class honours.

Dr Lawlor said she was determined to channel her grief to produce positive results.

“If you sit and dwell, you become bitter,” she said. “It’s exceptionally difficult to live with what we are living with, but vindictive feelings will eat you like a cancer. 

"You can’t spend every day soaking yourself in bitterness and revenge. Martin wouldn’t want any of us to become engulfed in those type of feelings, because that’s not who we are as a family.”

The psychotherapist also won in the individual category in the 2020 Mental Health Champions run by the World Dignity Project, an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health.

Dr Lawlor previously volunteered for more than a decade in mental fitness, delivering talks and workshops to sporting and youth clubs and centres of education. Her motivation was to promote the normalisation of mental health.

She has also provided hundreds of free counselling sessions to adolescents and adults unable to afford private help.

“My job is to instil hope in people, even if that’s just a flicker of hope,” Dr Lawlor said. “If they have lost all hope, then I encourage them to at least have a little curiosity for life. It’s important to have some type of meaning in your life.”

She described how her brother inspired her both on a personal and professional level.

“When this happened, it was hugely distressing for people on so many levels,” Dr Lawlor said. 

“It destroyed our family and left a huge void in all of us. Martin was as laid back as the day was long. You would never know just how much he had achieved by the way he treated people. 

"He was kind, generous, enthusiastic, and treated everyone the same, whether they were a stranger or member of his family. Martin always highlighted just how precious dignity is.”

Dr Lawlor said that she and her family will never move on from their grief and can only “move with it”.

“We are all victims. We are also survivors. We will never get over what happened. Martin was taken from us at his peak. All the strength I have I am pulling from my family.”

She stressed the importance of appreciating life.

“It is very important to tell people on a daily basis that you love and care for them and that you are grateful to have them in your life,” Dr Lawlor said. “My family has always been that way, but now I do it even more so, because we just don’t know what life will bring. There are no winners. What happened was traumatic for every person involved. 

"Every day is difficult and there’s not a day goes by that I don’t think of Martin. However, I have to respect the work he did and the work that I’m doing in order to channel that emotion into something positive.”

She extended her gratitude to friends and family for helping her through the more difficult times.

“Nobody deserves this depth of distress and pain. There is no such thing as moving on for my family, because there will always be someone missing at every type of celebration. When I win these awards, I always make sure to be grateful. I have a great family and team surrounding me, who get me through the dark days.”