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Matthew sets sights on trip to change life

Matthew Parkin is vying for a shot at heading to Fiji to help change the world.

"If the rope didn't snap, I wouldn't be here." Those were the words Karratha resident Matthew Parkin uttered while reflecting on a disturbing childhood, one in which he was constantly bullied, leading to depression and substance abuse.

"I got bullied because I was very short and very fat," he said.

"People would end up egging the house, chasing me up to the gate and throwing me over the fence."

After bullying continued during his apprenticeship, Mr Parkin found a stable job and was sent to Onslow, but it was not the end of his problems.

"The bullying had ended … but late October … I was starting to feel bad and was really hooked on (synthetic cannabis) Kronic," he said.

"It got to a point where I was smoking 10 cones a day and it was doing nothing so I thought I have to get away from it."

Mr Parkin is determined to make a change in the world, and is vying for one of six tickets to Fiji to take part in a two-week course in life and business training to help him put an end to bullying.

Luck has saved Mr Parkin's life twice - the rope snapping in his darkest hour and a miracle recovery after a vehicle crash near Fortescue last year - and has helped him reach the semifinal of This Is Your Life Change, a project aimed at making dreams a reality created by life coach Mark Bowness.

"I actually missed the cut off for the final 50 originally but a few people didn't get back so I just scraped in when they needed to fill those spaces," he said.

"When you think of things like (the shooting) at (US high school) Columbine, they were nutters, they killed a lot of people.

"I don't condone what they did at all, but I can understand how they got to the point where they're being made fun of every day and are torn apart from it."

Mr Parkin said his ambition was to go to every primary and high school in the country to help children who had been treated the same way as him.

After that, he said he would like to go to schools around the world to set up programs so children were not afraid to leave their home like he was.

"I really want to get through to people that you don't forget school, you never forget the times you were torn apart, the words stay with you," he said.

Parkin has one advantage over other competitors - while most people are taken away to islands clean shaven, Parkin has the "been-stuck-on-an-island-for-months" look already.

Voting for the final six to take part in the trip to Fiji is open now and can be done online at http://thisisyourlifechange.com/.

If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.