Tahs, Aussie Sevens do it for Dolly

The Waratahs and Australian Women's Sevens squad have paid tribute to teenager Amy "Dolly" Everett, donning blue at training this week.

Dolly, who was the face of the Akubra Christmas campaign eight years ago, tragically took her own life on January 3, aged just 14.

Her suicide has sparked nationwide calls for more action on cyber bullying, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledging to take "every step" to combat it.

The Waratahs wear blue every day but as Dolly was farewelled at a funeral service in Katherine, they did it for Dolly.

"We remember her legacy and we also want to raise awareness that bullying is not okay and needs to be stamped out of society," Waratahs outside back Alex Newsome said.

Waratahs flyhalf Mack Mason, who was a boarding school student himself at both Downlands College and Churchie, echoed Newsome's comments.

"I know that boarding communities really get around each other and even if you have a voice in there somewhere, speak, even if it is shaking," Mason said.

"I'd just like to send our condolences, my personal condolences, Alex Newsome's condolences and the Waratahs' condolences to the family and friends of Dolly.

"Today we wear blue for Dolly."

The Australian Women's Sevens squad also sported splashes of blue, with Charlotte Caslick taking to Instagram to share her own personal tribute.

 

This post will be long but please take the time to read it. It’s personal. Today a beautiful little girl was laid to rest by her family. Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett was being bullied and for her the only option to escape the hatred and darkness was to take her own life. Dolly was just 14 years old. I remember myself as a 14 year old, receiving hateful messages from people. Girls my own age, boys years above me, they came from some very unlikely people. I’ll never understand it, but what I do know is that bullying, unfortunately, is everywhere around us. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, what your interests are, how successful you are at life, bullies are going to be there. Bullies are everywhere, but so are good people. And i believe there’s more good people than bad. One of my favourite artists Luke Bryan says it better then I ever could: ‘I believe most people are good And most Mama's oughta qualify for sainthood I believe most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights I believe you love who you love Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks I believe most people are good’. We need to be able to talk to each other. To our friends, our families, school teachers, coaches, anyone. Through my own struggles I’ve had with bullying I felt as though I had to face it by myself because it was my fault that I was being treated this way. But it wasn’t my fault that people were bitter & twisted & hated themselves & projected that hatred on me. Once I did open up about it, a weight was lifted off my shoulders and my family, my friends, and all these people helped me beat the bullies. I guess my message out of this if any, is that people are good, they will help if you ask for it. Talk to each other, help each other and most importantly be kind to each other. Let’s not let beautiful Dolly’s message go to waste, do this for her and for every other person struggling to overcome the bullies in their lives. Take Dolly’s advice, ‘Speak, even if your voice shakes.’ #doitfordolly #dollysdream #bekind #bluefordolly 💙💙

A post shared by Charlotte Caslick (@charlottecaslick) on Jan 11, 2018 at 10:24pm PST

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