Wayne’s why

Wayne’s life was turned on its head in 2023 when his beloved son Mac, 17, took his own life after being sexually extorted by a middle-aged man pretending to be a teenage girl.

The devastating tragedy has led to Wayne founding SmackTalk, a charity to help prevent suicide and sexual extortion, to leave a legacy in Mac’s name.

Wayne quickly became a media ‘go-to’ on the topics of sexual exploitation, social media access and suicide prevention. It’s not unusual for multiple interviews every week across all areas of the media.

His story has been shared around the world. Comments on social media are numerous – many identifying and sharing the horrors their own families have been through.

Wayne is determined to stop other families and communities from going through the trauma and devastation that his has.

Alongside his work to save lives, Wayne is devoted to his other children, including his daughter Daisy, his wife Maggie, grandchildren and the family’s adored dog, Shandy.

The devasting sextortion of Mac

Mac thought he was messaging a teenage girl and was devastated to discover it was in fact a middle-aged man. While pretending to be the girl, the man convinced Mac to share a nude and then demanded $500 with a threat to share it with Mac’s friends and family if he didn’t pay. When a petrified Mac paid, the man asked for more.

Mac told Wayne, who took the next call from the extortioner. The man said he didn’t care if either of them died from his actions and distributed the photo to all Mac’s contacts.

They contacted police. The man was traced and charged with a lesser offence, receiving a short jail term. It was the beginning of the end for Mac, who struggled with humiliation, despite other people laughing it off with him.

Wayne created SmackTalk in Mac’s name and has generously shared his story widely as a warning for others.

Following Mac’s death, Wayne trained in how to help prevent suicide and set about offering himself to speak to anyone who would listen. The numbers he has spoken to are in the thousands and there are now regular requests, often coming in each day, for him to speak to groups. Large corporates are asking him to speak to their entire workforce.

The shocking statistics that drive Wayne to take action