LAUREN’S STORY
MY NAME’S LAUREN MCDONOUGH.
I’m the Founder of LUMAURA -
A Mental Health movement changing how society understands and responds to Mental Health and Suicide.
This journey didn’t begin as a plan, an idea, or a business. It began with my life.
Long before LUMAURA had a name, I was just a young girl trying to make sense of something I didn’t yet have the words for. What I was feeling was overwhelming, confusing, and difficult to explain unless you’ve experienced it yourself.
Mental health wasn’t something I learned about. It was something I lived. It shaped how I saw the world, how I saw myself, and whether I believed I had a future at all.
There were times I genuinely didn’t think I would make it here. Moments when the future didn’t just feel far away. It felt impossible.
But my story didn’t end there.
Everything I lived through- the difficult moments, the setbacks, and the times I felt completely lost- became the reason LUMAURA® exists today.
I know what it feels like to be in that place. And I know how much it matters when someone chooses to show up.
WHEN THE STRUGGLE BEGAN
My challenges began when I was only 13 years old. While adolescence is usually a time for growth, friendships, and self-discovery, my teenage years were marked by severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
I struggled to manage overwhelming and confusing emotions at such a young age.
Those years were extremely tough. I engaged in self-harm, developed an eating disorder, and often withdrew from the world around me. Some days, simply getting out of bed felt like an impossible task. Much of my adolescence involved frequent psychiatric care as I tried to cope with what I was experiencing.
During this time, I also made several attempts to take my own life.
Living with mental illness, I often felt misunderstood — not because people didn’t care, but because mental health struggles are complex and can be difficult for others to fully understand.
THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
When I was 19 years old, during one of the darkest moments of my life, I attempted to take my own life again.
A train hit me.
I survived — but I lost both of my legs.
I spent a week on life support and underwent more than 30 surgeries as doctors worked to stabilise my body. When I eventually woke up, I was told something that would shape the next chapter of my life: doctors believed I would never walk again.
They were wrong.
LEARNING TO REBUILD
Learning to walk again using prosthetic legs took years of rehabilitation, strength and persistence. But the physical recovery was only part of the journey. Rebuilding my life mentally was far more complex.
There were moments when the road ahead felt incredibly uncertain. Rebuilding after trauma meant learning how to process everything that had happened, reconnect with life again, and slowly begin to believe that a future was still possible.
It wasn’t an easy path. But step by step, I kept moving forward.
THE REALISATION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Through everything I lived through — the hospital rooms, rehabilitation, and conversations with doctors, psychologists, family and friends, I began to notice something important.
When someone is struggling with their mental health, the way people respond to them matters more than we often realise.
Sometimes, the difference between someone feeling completely alone and someone feeling supported can come down to a single moment of human connection. A conversation. Someone who listens. Someone who stays. Someone who isn’t afraid to be present when things are uncomfortable or difficult.
In recent years, awareness around mental health has grown enormously. But one thing I noticed through my own experience is that many people still feel unsure of what to actually do when someone they care about is struggling.
That uncertainty can create silence.
CREATING LUMAURA
LUMAURA was created to help change that.
Through conversations, education, speaking engagements and community initiatives, LUMAURA exists to help people feel more confident responding when someone around them is struggling and to make people feel less alone.
Sometimes, the most powerful thing one person can offer another isn’t perfect advice or the right words. Sometimes it’s simply presence.
A FINAL THOUGHT
There was a time in my life when I truly didn’t believe I would have a future.
Now, I get to use my life and my voice to help other people believe in theirs.
Through everything I’ve lived through, I’ve come to understand something that changed everything for me: when someone says, “I’m not okay,” that moment matters more than we often realise.
In those moments, people don’t need perfect words. They don’t need all the answers, and they don’t need someone to fix everything. More than anything, they need someone who will stay. Someone who will listen. Someone who won’t look away when things feel uncomfortable or hard.
Sometimes, the difference between someone feeling completely alone and someone choosing to keep going can come down to one person who chose to be there.
That’s what sits at the heart of LUMAURA.
You don't need to be a professional to make a difference in someone’s life. You just need to be human.
Sometimes, the most powerful thing one person can offer another is simply being the light in their darkest moment. It’s that light that can change everything.