Nathan Carroll turned his life around when TVC’s Simon Davies fixed him up with a job on a pig farm. Here, Simon explains how this happened and presents a moving video in tribute to his late friend.
At a time of adversity for our family, I was fortunate to meet someone who stepped forward to offer help.
I had met Nathan Carroll a polite, friendly and helpful man. After a while getting to know Nathan and listening to his story, he revealed having really struggled with mental health and addiction issues, which had resulted in him being in trouble with the police, and for a period of his life, being in prison. This path had resulted in him struggling to find work.
At some point during our discussions, Nathan mentioned always having had a love for animals, so, with that, I arranged an interview on a local outdoor pig unit. Shortly after Nathan started work, entering a part of his life which made a real positive impact for him his family and those around him.
This period working on a pig unit brought great happiness to his life, he worked hard and impressed everyone with his commitment to the job.
A shock came to us all in late summer 2023, when I was asked to say a few words by his parents at Nathan’s funeral and introduce the video attached from what had been described as his ‘happy time’.
Afterwards, his parents met the pig farmer, who could not believe how working on his farm with the pigs had brought such happiness, meaning and focus into Nathan’s life.
Please watch the video and listen to Nathan telling you, briefly, of his experience during his time working with pigs.
A moment within our busy lives to notice and show empathy for others can really impact lives!
- This short video was put together in conjunction with TIAH, which provides tailored advice and practical tool to help develop skills and lifelong learning in agriculture.
