Bring Me the Horizon fans accidentally sent emails to children’s author Oliver Sykes

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Fans of Bring Me the Horizon who were trying to reach frontman Oli Sykes accidentally sent emails to a children’s book author named Oliver Sykes.

In a piece written for the U.K.’s Metro, the non-BMTH Sykes explains how he started getting an influx of emails from fans of the band when they released their 2008 album, Suicide Season.

“My inbox started piling up with messages — predominantly from teenage girls — desperately trying to contact Oli Sykes,” says Oliver, who was a college student at the time. “I had about 30 or 40 people telling me how much they loved ‘me’ and ‘my album.’”

“A case of mistaken identity isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but what was harder was reading the content of some of these emails,” he continues. “By nature of the record’s name, these vulnerable young people who had connected with Oli started telling me about their mental health and really intimate parts of their lives.”

Oliver decided the best course of action was to reply to these mistaken fans clarifying he was not the Oli Sykes and with the help of student services, craft a standard reply including links to Oli’s website and mental health resources.

“I was spending more time replying to emails for Oli Sykes than I was on my actual degree,” Oliver says.

Since the Metro article was published over the weekend, Oli reached out to Oliver via an Instagram DM thanking him for taking the time to reply to all those fans.

“That’s an incredibly sweet and selfless thing to do, thank you,” Oli wrote.

If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. 

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