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Alexander Financial Group founder Dave Picca has promised to continue fighting for awareness and support for mental health despite depression recently claiming the life of a member of his family.
Adelaide-based Picca completed an epic jiu jitsu roll-a-thon in October to raise funds for mental health, consisting of approximately 120 bouts of five-minutes each over 12 straight hours.
The roll-a-thon, which was supported by industry representatives from Loan Market Group and ING, saw Picca successfully raise $5,000 for mental health charities The Next Step Australia and R U OK?.
However, Picca said the motivation for the event, which tested him both physically and mentally, had primarily been to support his own father who was struggling in his own mental health battle.
“The whole idea was to raise awareness for people struggling and show them giving up isn’t an option, to inspire them to push through all the pain and keep going until they see the light,” he said.
However, Picca said his father, who had been suffering from severe depression and had been proud of his son for taking on the jiu jitsu challenge, took his own life just 10 days after the event.
“That was the main motive to create the challenge, so he could see me not give up,” Picca said.
“But Dad wouldn’t want me to stop. I’m going to continue – the show must go on. He loves what I did. He knew I was going well and becoming successful and all that,” he said.
“I am still grieving, obviously. But it’s going well and I will continue to keep raising awareness and hopefully help as many people as possible,” he said.
Picca said the preparation for the roll-a-thon was even tougher than the challenge itself, due to the training commitment that was required on top of running a mortgage and finance business.
The training regime included taking extra classes and steadily increasing his time doing bouts on the mats from one to 2.5 hours, as well as doing cardio training to improve his lung capacity.
“I prepared quite well I thought, but on the day, when I rocked up, I thought, ‘I am nowhere near prepared for this,’” he said.
“You just can’t prepare for 12 hours of jiu jitsu, and try and map out how it is going to go and how you are going to be on the day,” he said.
Also, Picca’s intention to hydrate his body using a drip did not go to plan when his body rejected the needle the day before the event, something he puts down to the stress he was feeling.
The hardest part of the 6am to 6pm roll-a-thon came about seven hours in, Picca said, when he started to get a “thumping headache” and blurry vision, and the situation was not improving.
“I wanted to quit. I needed to stop,” he said. “I just couldn’t shake it; it was probably due to dehydration. I thought, ‘I’m going to faint or something bad is going to happen,’” he said.
Picca said drinking warm coca cola in the 60-second breaks between bouts gave him the sugar fix and hydration his body needed to make the headache go away so he could continue.
“That was definitely the hardest point. That was the moment I was regretting everything I had decided to do,” he said.
Picca was able to go on and complete the roll-a-thon challenge for mental health, and after the event was done, was awarded with his purple belt in jiu-jitsu.
Picca said he surprised himself and a lot of other people by completing the 12-hour roll-a-thon, and has proved to himself and others that “you can do it if you set your mind to it”.
“I definitely surprised myself. I had back surgery 12 years ago, and if you asked me then if I would complete something like this, I would have said no way.
“But if you really set your mind to it, if you are focused and driven, you can complete something as barbaric as that challenge,” he said.
Picca said the achievement is helping him with the challenges that come with mortgage broking.
“I feel like I can overcome every challenge in this industry as well. That is what I feel like now. It helps you build confidence. In this industry you are facing challenges all the time, but I look back at what I’ve done, and it’s something not many people have done, and it makes you feel like nothing can bother you; you stay calm and think things will work out. It helps me be patient.”
Picca said that he now wants to focus on trying to help people stuck in depression and anxiety situations, including using his business to help fund programs for those who need support.
“I’m very pleased to complete the challenge and raise awareness so that others can understand if they are going through struggles, try not to give up and keep pushing through,” he said.
“All I want to do is help one person, save one life, and Dad will not have died for nothing.”
To get help today, call a Beyond Blue counsellor on 1300 224 636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
