“If he thought there was any kind of problem he’d always want to step in to help.”

The heartbroken brother of a Kilberry man who took his own life last month has paid tribute to the popular young plumber who “lit up a room.”

Joseph or Jody as he was known to those close to him, the son of Joe and Noeleen Fitzsimons was just 21 when he tragically passed away on October 22nd leaving behind his devastated family.

His younger brother Tadhg (18) has created a fundraising campaign to raise awareness of men’s mental health issues in honour of his memory.

As part of “Movember” around twenty of Jody’s close friends are taking part in “Ronnies for Jody” and are growing moustaches to raise awareness for mental health and funds for Jigsaw Meath, a service that provides free and confidential youth mental health support for young people aged 12 – 25 in Navan.

Tadhg remembers “a caring brother” who always looked out for him and a young man who loved his friends. He said:

“Jody was the life of the party, he was really energetic, always on the go, that’s why it was such a shock.

“In the last two years we were getting closer and closer. When I started going out, he’d always be ringing me and making sure I was ok, giving me the number of taxis he liked and that kind of thing.

“If he thought there was any kind of problem he’d always want to step in to help.”

Sadly, in another tragedy for the family, Tadhg’s twin brother Emmet passed away when he was just a few weeks old.

“So really from a young age it has been just the two of us,” he said.

Jody was a popular and charismatic young man and had a wide circle of close friends, many of whom he has known since childhood according Tadgh who commented:

“He was insanely popular, he had so many close friends, not even acquaintances, about 20 of his close friends are doing this fundraiser.

“He just had that kind of personality, people were drawn to him.”

The Kilberry man a former student of Scoil Ultain Naofa in Gibbstown and later O'Carolan College in Nobber was also a talented plumber who enjoyed the trade as his brother explains:

“He was an apprentice plumber with TM Plumbing & Heating run by Tony Madden in Kells.

“He really enjoyed the job and got on well with everyone he worked with.”

Being “the life and soul of the part, there was no indication that Jody a passionate Everton supporter was struggling as Tadgh explains:

“We had no idea, none of us knew, his friends didn’t know it was just out of the blue.

“We are still really in shock and it probably really hasn’t sunk in yet.

“We wanted to do something in Jody’s name to have some kind of good to come from such a terrible situation.”

Tadgh recalls some special family moments that stay in his mind:

“When we were younger dad used to take us over to the Aran Islands and one time we were going to a lighthouse but the lighthouse was closed for the day.

“So we jumped over the fence to just walk around it and my brother went straight up to try to open the door and a loud alarm went off and we had to go running off!

“Another time on the islands I was too young to even cycle and I used to sit in the back and dad and Jody would collect blackberries and we were going to buy ice cream to have with them when we got home but I was eating the blackberries in the back of the bike all the way home and when we got home, they had none for themselves!

The Kilberry college student says he will miss his big brother who he enjoyed nights out with locally since turning 18.

“At the weekends if I was in a pub or something he’d want me to stay there with him and his friends, that’s when it will probably hit home a bit more when I go out and I won’t be getting messages from him to see where I am. I’ll miss that.”

To support the fundraiser search for “Ronnies for Jody” on GoFundMe.