Leaderboard

We're planning on having a minutes applause in the 44th minute for Simon / Bronson during this game. Something to note for later this month and feel free to make others around you at the game aware. Hopefully get as many people joining in as possible. Cheers.

Signed back on here with an extra S on my name to pay my respects to my great friend, my best friend - Bronson... aka Simon Macdonald. You gave me many laughs mate. You were an absolute rock for me when I went through my own separation. You pulled me back up. You had my back. You held me up. You were a true, true friend & one of very few people I trusted with my life. We had a brilliant night on Friday. Laughing, smiling, joking, drinking, talking about the future. I am so, so, sorry from the bottom of my heart that I never saw the signs from you. I'm sorry I never saw your pain or your turmoil. I just saw Simon, laughing, smiling, joking.... My heart is hurting like hell for you. I am riddled with guilt I never saw your internal pain & my own pain is growing each day that I failed you in your own time of need. RIP Simon. It was an honour to call you my friend.

A tragedy but, understandable as your feelings are in the circumstances, no blame whatsoever attaches to you. People in turmoil can be very adept at concealing that even from those closest to them and it appears that is exactly what happened on Friday. Stay strong and make sure you have someone you can talk to.

Haven’t posted in a long time but Steph A made me aware of Bronsons passing, he was part of a great group of folk on here I used to enjoy shooting the breeze and football banter with. RIP Bronson, your’s in football, Heilandee 😕

This from the family via Facebook. ============ On behalf Simon’s immediate family, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been in touch, shared their memories of him and offered their support. It has been truly humbling – we knew he was a great bloke, but this has surpassed even our expectations. By way of making sense of this – something everyone will be trying to do – know that we do not think he planned this. Simon had been dealing with a lot recently, but he had fully intended to keep on living and taking care of his family – all the indications support this. He even called his Dad that night to ask him to record the football! ⚽️⚽️💟We will never know for sure, but it seems that, during his last few hours, his pain and too much to drink conspired to interfere with his logic. His death will leave a huge hole in the hearts and lives of all who knew him. The funeral service will take place on Wednesday 11 March at 12.30pm in the Funeral Home of William T Fraser and Son, Culduthel Road, Inverness, IV2 6AB, and thereafter to Kilvean Cemetery. All friends and colleagues past and present welcome. Family flowers only please, and money donations to the Scottish Burned Children’s Club welcome. Please share this information with anyone else you think would like to know. — feeling heartbroken. =============

Richard, please keep talking and sharing your grief with others. Your friend would not want you to feel guilt. It's so sad.

Tragically Bronson is not the first site member of ours to have passed away over the 25 years the forum has been active, and unfortunately he wont be the last, but the news this weekend seems to have affected a lot of us deeply as we have known him a long time even if we all had different degrees of closeness to him. I have been thinking about things a lot since I heard about this and would like there to be something positive to come from his passing. The Bronson Legacy referred to in the title of this post if you will. I do not know what fits, how best to phrase it, or even if we are able to do something lasting and beneficial on the site but FFS we need to look out for each other somehow .... I have seen comments on Facebook and elsewhere where members of our site have posted the offer to be there for others who might need to talk. I also hold my hands out and say the same thing to anyone on this site whether we know each other or not and whether we have crossed swords or are best of buddies. If you need to talk, I am here. If you need to vent, I am here. If you need a second, third or fourth opinion, I am here. I am no expert or psychologist, but I can do two things quite well ... listen and give an opinion. Many of us are the 'strong silent type' and that stoic Highland reserve is how I used to deal with things as well. It's a man thing, it's a Highland thing, and it's most definitely a Highland Man thing. Over the last two years my personal life has been less than perfect. 2018 started (on Jan 1st) with the suicide of someone I knew from the Toronto FC supporters group who didn't realise how much he was loved and revered (and still is). After watching an uncle die from Prostate Cancer, I was then diagnosed and treated for cancer myself and will live with some side effects forever but the crucial thing is that I will live. I also lost my mum in June 2019, two days after returning to Canada from our last visit to see her. Through it all I had the support of friends on both sides of the Atlantic, family and colleagues and this helped. I was in a dark place a few times but someone was always there with encouragement or a quick word. Its amazing how even asking how someone is doing can be uplifting and bring you out of that slump. It also helped me shed that stoic reserved approach. I now view life as too short and bottling stuff up is less of an issue now. I now participate in Movember each year and one of the key cornerstones of this is mental health (along with Prostate and Testicular cancers). I have talked openly about my cancer and told colleagues at work that if anyone is scared to go for testing or wants to know what happens after a diagnosis, I am here. The same applies for trying to remove the stigma over talking about mental health. I have added the MikeysLine link to our site pages over the weekend and there are a couple of other links below to sites that may help or form the basis of some small thing we can do for our little community here .... because thats what we are, a community, and community means looking out for each other even if/when we dont always get along. Please use this thread for comments, links or brainstorming anything you think we can do here. https://uk.movember.com/mens-health/we-need-to-ask https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/ways-to-help

Well it is part and parcel of my job and has been for 45 years. Taking calls two nights a week at the moment. BUT calling a NHS run Mental Health "Crisis" Line is not the whole answer unless you are in Mental Health Services, have a recognised diagnosis and the "Risk" level is deemed "High". I am mainly sought to action Section 136 presentations or MHA Assessments. Of course that is usually urgent and needed. But it is often life events, loss and potential loss that eats away - leading to guilt, hopelessness, worthlessness and helplessness - and often when we "bottle" it up another kind of bottle is a coping mechanism. Many people who call want to maintain strict confidentiality and often anonimity, many are still put off by the stigma and most just want to talk and be consoled. Primary Care Mental Health has been overloaded and waiting lists are "ridiculous". I have heard good and bad feedback from the large number of helplines available. Over the years I have found that it is usually the ones who have perfected the "cover" or act impulsively, that often choose the suicide route. I bet that word made people shiver. Should I have used it ? To me the only way to ask about "suicide risk" is to be direct and blunt. Not at all easy but I would say - Ask the question. Well I am now off to an assessment. A young 19 year old who made a serious attempt at the weekend. The aim will be to establish the risk and to try and establish the precipitators. But as Gringo succinctly pointed out - Tell someone - In fact identify somebody close to you NOW and get them to be your "buddy" and make an agreement to act when necessary. As the tears begin to fall again - I wished that you had called out mate - there were so many who would have answered the call.

Really sorry to hear this. Like many, I used to bump into Simon at away games and here on this site, where he would always entertain. Great memories of a really nice guy. Gone way too soon.

My Facebook Post from earlier today..... Words can not explain how I feel right now. Today I heard of the passing of one the nicest guys I ever met whilst supporting Inverness Caley Thistle. He was a laugh, a true Caley Thistle fan, a gent and was always in awe at my (our) long distance journeys that were made as a family to follow his (our) team. He was also a founder member of the infamous Highland March and also became the saviour of it too on that very first event. I shared the support bus with him on a number of occasions we're we talked football and rock music. From those halcyon days of the HM, the fun in the Innes Bar, the home matches and the away matches on the supporters bus I will never forget you Simon MacDonald ‘Bronson’ never. With a heavy heart I bid you farewell my friend and may you rest in peace now. My heart also goes out to all your family and friends. A pain unimaginable right now. I hope my words ease that awful pain somehow.

Can’t believe it. Such awful news. Sincerest sympathy to his nearest and dearest and especially his lovely Dad. Liz S x

Yes it is.