by Bea Peterson
On Sunday evening, October 3, the crowd of all ages, from families with youngsters in strollers, to teens, to seniors, kept growing and growing as people gathered for the first annual Community Walk to Prevent Suicide. This year the walk was in memory of two HFCS teens. Joe Sweeney took his life about six months ago. Tyler Marcoux’s death was very recent. Their parents, along with members of the Hoosick Area Youth Center & Community Coalition and Hoosick Area Church Association members Fr. Tom Zelker, Pastor Michael Benoit, Pastor Jonathan Youngmann and Rev. Lorrie Lyons led the Walk that began at 6 pm. Pastor Benoit thanked everyone for coming, Fr. Zelker asked a blessing for the participants. Hoosick Falls Mayor Matt Monahan and Hoosick Town Supervisor Keith Cipperly were among the walkers.
Also among the guesstimated 300 or more walkers were Colleen and Stuart Hoskins of North Petersburgh. The couple have participated in several walks for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. They wore shirts from their most recent 18 mile overnight walk. The shirts had photos on them of those the couple have lost to suicide.
In 1983 Colleen’s 25 year old brother committed suicide. She also lost a cousin and a dear friend to suicide and last year her 47 year old brother took his life.
Causes
The leading cause of suicide is depression, a treatable illness with an 85 to 90 percent success rate. This year depression will be the #1 disability in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States. Heart attack is number one and cancer number two.
Teen Suicides
Statistics for adolescents 15 to 19 years of age indicate that from 1950 to 1990, the frequency of suicides increased by 300 percent and from 1990 to 2003, that rate decreased by 35 percent. Suicide is the number three cause of death in the teenage group. Forty percent of young people in this age group die in motor vehicle accidents. Almost 14 percent die in homicides, 11 percent by suicide and five and a quarter percent die of cancer.
Causes for suicidal thoughts in teens include divorce of parents, violence in the home,
inability to find success at school, feelings of worthlessness, bullying, rejection by friends or peers, substance abuse, death of someone close or the suicide of a friend or someone he or she “knows” online.
Many Walkers Affected By Suicide
One walker said his wife’s family was there because her brother had committed suicide. Another walker said his firefighter uncle hanged himself in 1950. He was 20 when his mother killed herself in 1982. And, he said, his great-great-grandfather committed suicide in 1870. It was a bitter-sweet walk for a mother whose son took his life several years ago. This walker lost two male cousins under 25 to suicide years ago and just a few years back an old friend ended her life.
According to SAVE – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, “When the worst has happened and you have lost a loved one to suicide there is little that can be said to comfort you. SAVE recommends the book Suicide: Survivors – A Guide For Those Left Behind by Adina Wrobleski that many have found helpful during the grieving process. It does not take it away, but it has helped many understand and correct some of the wrong information that people believe about suicide.
After the walk about 80 people enjoyed a free spaghetti dinner at St. Mark’s Church. Many people spent some time in the Church remembering Tyler and Joe. Others gathered to talk at length in small groups outside the Church. Hopefully the Walk inspired people to be more aware of those around them who may be hurting and may require support to get them past their depressed time.
In an emergency anyone can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.
“Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse.” – Karl A. Menninger.
