Tiwi Islands rocked by recent spate of deaths in community

The Tiwi Islands and its passionate footy community have been left heartbroken after the deaths of three young men in one week.

The Tiwi Bombers and wider community has been left devastated after the sudden deaths of three young men. Picture: Supplied

Tragedy has struck the Tiwi Bombers Football Club on the eve of the NTFL season after two prominent, senior players suddenly died.

An Indigenous Labor MP also confirmed there was a third death by suicide, all in the same week.

Pirrawayingi (Marius) Puruntatameri has spoken after his grandson’s death by suicide, urging his “devastated” Tiwi community to wrap their arms around each other.

“It’s not easy … it’s a terrible thing” he said.

“But I want to say something positive for young people in particular.

“There are times like this … we feel vulnerable and we can lose our self control and all these wonderful things during these times.

“But there are also moments like these that we can think about things.”

Mr Puruntatameri said people needed to check in on each other, “every day if we have to”.

“I want you people, all our people to know that you are all good people,” he said.

“Before you make a choice, when you are thinking about making the choice, maybe get some advice from someone older.

“Don’t try and find the answers by yourself.”

The Bombers confirmed the first death on their Facebook page on September 19, while a training session was called off five days later when the second tragedy struck.

“The Tiwi Bombers FC mourn the loss of a son, our playing groups and support staff have lost a brother, our Tiwi Bombers community loss of a family member,” the club statement read.

“We send our love and prayers out to the families and friends of our beloved teammate.

Tiwi Bombers have been rocked by the deaths of two of its own. Picture: Alison McGowan / AFLNT Media.

“There’s no way to measure the impact this has and will continue to have on our club and wider Tiwi community, we will group together, we will stand by each other, we will support one another.”

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour said a suicide epidemic was crippling her home community, calling for urgent attention to address the “crisis”.

“We’ve had three terrible suicides in this community in less than a week,” she said.

“We can’t have the status quo continue.”

The Tiwi Islands are home to about 3000 people and are famous for producing some of the country’s greatest Australian Rules footballers.

But the islands, about 80km north of Darwin, are also home to some of the world’s highest rates of premature death, especially for young men.

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour was at the Wurrumiyanga polling station on Tuesday for early remote voting in the Voice referendum. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“This is the fourth young man that I call grandson that has taken his life and it hurts, and it runs deep and we’ve got to stop accepting this is the lot of young men in remote Aboriginal communities,” Ms Scrymgour said.

Ms Scrymgour has been warning for months about a rise in drug use – including methamphetamines – in Tiwi communities.

“People are talking about the cheeky one again which is Kronic (synthetic cannabis) which … in the past has caused a lot of issues with young men not being able to cope once they’ve smoked it,” she said.

Ms Scrymgour said Australians needed to take notice of what was happening on the Tiwi Islands.

“We’ve got to stop this from happening. It’s a crisis and no-one’s looking at it,” she said.

Ms Scrymgour said she would be holding urgent meetings this week with the police and the Northern Territory government.