Ep. 12 | Chris McIntosh - Carrying the Weight: Loss, Love, and Always Moving Forward

#MentalHealthAwareness #MensMentalHealth #BrilliantHumansPodcast

Content Warning - This episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast contains references to suicide. Please take care while listening, and if this feels too heavy today, it’s okay to skip this episode or return when you feel ready.

On this deeply moving episode of The Brilliant Humans Podcast, Jonathan Griffiths is joined by Chris McIntosh - founder of Always Forward.

Chris is here to talk about his brilliant human: his brother Grant, who tragically died by suicide in 2017.

What follows is an open, honest, and compassionate conversation about grief, brotherhood, mental health, and the invisible weight so many people carry - often without those around them ever knowing.

Chris shares who Grant really was; the life and soul of the party, fiercely generous, deeply loved, and unforgettable to everyone who met him. He also reflects on the shock of losing someone with “no warning signs,” the unanswered questions that follow suicide, and the long road of learning how to live with loss.

From that pain came Always Forward - a powerful movement where Chris takes on extreme physical challenges, including running 50km and 100km wearing a weighted vest, raising nearly £30,000 for mental health charities. The weight, he explains, is a symbol of the unseen burdens people carry every day - and the relief that comes when we don’t carry them alone.

This episode is about:

• Suicide, grief, and the reality behind “happy faces”
• Why checking in on people really matters
• Men’s mental health and learning to talk
• Turning pain into purpose
• Carrying love forward, even when someone is gone

Above all, it’s a reminder of this simple truth:

You are loved. You are wanted. And you matter more than you know.

If this episode brings anything up for you, you don’t have to face it alone:

• Samaritans — Call free, 24/7: 116 123
  Or visit: https://www.samaritans.org/
• NHS 111 — Ask for the mental health crisis line in your area
  (24/7 support across England)
• If you are in immediate danger, please call 999

Chris’s challenges have raised vital funds for these incredible organisations:

• Tiny Changes — supporting young people’s mental health https://tinychanges.com/
• Suicide & Co — counselling for those bereaved by suicide https://www.suicideandco.org/
• SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) — including The Nook, a walk-in mental health service https://www.samh.org.uk/

Find Chris and his work on Instagram:
@always_forward_mental_health

If this episode resonates, please consider liking, subscribing, and sharing. Stories like Grant’s, and Chris’s, deserve to be heard.

And if someone came to mind while listening…

maybe send them a message today.

#SuicidePrevention #AlwaysForward #GriefAndLove #TalkingSavesLives #YouAreNotAlone #MentalHealthMatters #TurningPainIntoPurpose #PodcastStories #HumanStories #RealConversations #LifeAfterLoss