A local singer/ songwriter is using tattoos as a way to inspire young people and let them know they are not alone.

When he was 17 years old, Robb Nash of Kleefeld was involved in a very serious car accident. Nash says that was the beginning of a very dark time for him, as for two years he wanted to die. But Nash says he made it through and made the decision to share his story.

For the last nine years, Nash has been travelling from one city to the next, performing in schools and prisons, sharing his story and letting kids know that suicide is never an option. Students have been handing him their suicide notes over the years, and today he has 819 of them.

Nash admits, at first it surprised him that these students would carry these notes with them. Then he learned while speaking with police at a conference in Toronto that it is very rare for a suicide note to be freshly written. He says people will write the note, then put it into their pocket or purse and carry it with them until somebody either pushes them over the edge or reaches out to them.

Nash eventually started taking the signatures from these notes and turning them into tattoos. Today, his right arm is filled with well over 100 tattooed signatures. Nash says just a few days ago he started adding names to his left arm as well.

"I just wanted to inspire people," he says. "Let them know they are not alone."

According to Nash, the struggles of students has changed since he first started touring nine years ago. He says what grade 12's were dealing with then, grade 8's are struggling with today. And what grade 8's were faced with then, grade 5's are battling now.

"We were just called to a school where an eight-year-old took their life," shares Nash. "That should not be an option at eight years old, and that's why we do this tour."

Nash says what he teaches is that pain is always going to be present. If you wake up in the morning looking for pain, you will find it. But he says strength and hope and help is also out there. Nash says it is a daily choice that needs to be made.