A teenager is raising money for the mental health charities who helped him after his father’s death.

Evien Fernandes, 16, will hold a 12-hour run/walk at Physiques and Shapes Health Club in Dorchester to raise money for CAMHS and Mosaic.

Since his father’s death 18 months ago, Evien has suffered a number of mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, and has since received counselling.

He said: “My mum and I have decided to raise money for CAMHS and Mosaic. These charities help to support bereaved and struggling children like my little brother and me. Over the past 18 months, since my dad died at home from a cardiac arrest, I have blamed myself as I was the one to find him. I know that my brother, my mum and I have struggled a lot.

“I started counselling with Mosaic after his death. At the end of the funded sessions, my counsellor forwarded me to CAMHS because I had further problems. I lost all motivation and stayed in my room 24/7 because I was anxious about going out.

“I have depression and anxiety. I used to try and hide all of this behind a smile because I felt it was my responsibility to look after my mom and my little brother like my dad did. I bottled everything in because I couldn’t talk about my true feelings. This led to the development of my PTSD and anger. I have always been embarrassed to talk about my feelings because I thought it wasn’t what boys do, and I thought it made me weak to talk about it. This made my PTSD worse, I have flashbacks (where I re-live the trauma) I have distorted thoughts from what happened, I have made myself paranoid about a lot of things. I have attacks where I shake, and I have developed a twitch as a result of how anxious I get. What helped me was the love and support of my family, my girlfriend at the time and my counsellor and psychiatrists.

A spokesman for Mosaic said: “We are very proud of Evien, and want to say a huge thank you to Evien and his family for fundraising for Mosaic and helping other families in Dorset going through bereavement.” The event takes place tomorrow from 9am to 9pm. People taking part will run/walk for a specific amount of time before swapping with a teammate. To get involved call Jayne Fernandes on 07871532690. To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/evien-fernandes