An anti-suicide campaigner took her own life as she felt too 'embarrassed' to tell people she was struggling.
Lara Kynvin, 57, was a leading voice for suicide awareness but felt unable to tell the suicide prevention charity she worked for that she was thinking about ending her life.
Described as 'compassionate and hardworking', Ms Kynvin worked as an advisor to the NHS for mental health as well as a suicide prevention charity, but felt unable to tell them about her state of mind.
Tragically, Ms Kynvin took her own life just seven weeks after organising an anti-suicide event in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
She was found dead at her home in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, on November 14, 2025.
Ms Kynvin campaigned for suicide awareness in Portsmouth after experiencing her own mental health struggles during the Covid lockdown in 2020 and making multiple attempts to take her life.
After experiencing mental health struggles during Covid, she became dedicated to suicide prevention.
She worked with multiple charities, was a project lead for Baton Of Hope UK, and was an NHS advisor.
Lara Kynvin, 57, was a leading voice for suicide awareness in her city but 'didn't want to admit she was struggling'
Ms Kynvin's brother Nick Kynvin told Portsmouth Coroner's Court: 'Lara was particularly compassionate. She was driven.
'I was five years older than her, and we had a normal upbringing with the usual sibling rivalry.
'She worked in Guernsey in her 20s before coming back to the UK and running a housesitting and dog-sitting service.
'In 2020 we received a call from a lady she had been working for that Lara was unwell and had entered a lake nearby to kill herself.
'We picked her up and she seemed embarrassed but okay.
'I think lockdown had a significant impact on her - she went on to make nine further attempts to take her life.'
During one of these attempts, she broke her ankle, which caused her chronic pain for the rest of her life.
Ms Kynvin was admitted to a mental health hospital in October 2023 and underwent various therapies before being released feeling much better three months later.
She then got involved in suicide prevention charities, starting by making a quilt for the charity Speak Their Names, which she took to Westminster to raise awareness around mental health.
Ms Kynvin also started working as an NHS Advisor for mental health.
In 2024, Ms Kynvin was a 'baton bearer' in Brighton for a charity called Baton Of Hope, which has local community leaders walk through a city holding a baton to raise awareness around suicide prevention.
After taking part in Brighton, Ms Kynvin campaigned to have the project brought to Portsmouth, where she was born.
She was selected to be the project lead in the city for the following year and the baton came to Portsmouth on September 26, 2025.
Ms Kynvin was pleased with the event, but after the 'very high high', she felt a 'very low low' when the work was over.
She contacted mental health services, including her GP and the crisis team, but soon stopped engaging with them.
She did not reveal the extent of her struggle with anyone.
On November 14, 2025, Ms Kynvin stopped answering her phone.
Two friends went to her home to check on her and found her deceased at the address.
Her death has been ruled as a suicide.
Ms Kynvin was a project lead for Baton Of Hope UK which has local community leaders walk through a city holding a baton to raise awareness around suicide prevention
Hampshire Coroner Christopher Wilkinson said: 'I have heard that she was a particularly caring, compassionate, and hardworking person who did so much in her life to help people after her own experiences with mental health.
'She brought energy and dedication to her charity work.'
Mr Wilkinson said the commitment to her work brought significant pressure on Ms Kynvin.
He said the pandemic led to multiple attempts on her life, resulting in her being put into mental health care.
While she didn't respond to treatment at first, she had a significant breakthrough and was positive and forward-looking once discharged, Mr Wilkinson said.
He added: 'She was a stoic and private person, particularly when it came to her mental health.
'I think that's what led her to help others struggling with their mental health problems in the same way she had.
'But I fear some of that was a distraction to her own mental health.
'It was a means to block out some of the struggle she was managing in her own mind.'
Mr Wilkinson said he believed that sufficient provision was made for leaders at Baton Of Hope to access help if they needed it, but Ms Kynvin decided not to follow that through.
'I think she didn't want to admit she was struggling, especially to a charity whose main purpose was to help those who were struggling,' he added.
'We know she decided not to engage with health services despite the extensive efforts made to help her.
'If she felt she couldn't reach out to those who could help her, perhaps from pride or embarrassment, I believe she had that plan [to end her life].
'Ultimately, she felt she could not go on the way she was feeling.
'Lara took her own life while suffering from chronic pain and chronic depression.
'She gave so much to suicide prevention and to those who needed the support and leadership from her and others that I hope that in many ways what she managed to do in her living years was an inspiration and helped many others prevent their deaths.
'That she found herself in that situation, I can't imagine, but perhaps she felt her job was done.
'I think the legacy she leaves is one her family should be very proud of.'
- For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support