‘Still I Rise’ suicide prevention walk going virtual this month

In August 2018, 16-year-old Bethany Faith Lawson was a sophomore at Whitley County High School, who loved horses, liked to model, was artistic and passionate about rescuing animals.

Then over the course of a 24-hour time period, she became one of three people, and one of two teenagers in Whitley County to die by suspected suicide over a 24-hour time period.

“If this ever crosses your mind, please ask for help, please,” Bethany’s mother, Melissa Lawson, told a crowd two months after her daughter’s death during the first ever, “Still I Rise,” suicide prevention walk. “I just want everybody out there to know it is OK to not be OK. It is OK to ask for help.”

This will be the fourth year for the “Still I Rise” suicide prevention one-mile walk, will be held in Bethany’s memory in downtown Williamsburg.

Rather than having the walk on Sept. 18 as planned in downtown Williamsburg, organizers have now decided to do the walk virtually for the entire month of September.

“Those, who registered, can pick up their shirts from Bill Woods Park on Sept. 18, 2021 between 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 pm due to the high cases of COVID19 in our county,” Whitley County Health Department Health Educator Katharine Lay wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.

82^nd Rep. Regina Huff had been slated to lead the one-mile walk through downtown Williamsburg.

The goal of the event is to increase awareness of suicide prevention, and to let people know that it’s OK to reach out to a mental health specialist or call hotlines, organizers wrote in an online flier for the event.

“We encourage people in our community and others to use the 1-800-273-TALK hotline and the 741741 text line to seek help for depression and suicidal thoughts,” the flier stated.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month.

In Kentucky, there is a death by suicide every 11 hours. For every completed suicide, there are also 25 suicide attempts where the person doesn’t die.

Statistics also show that someone, who dies by suicide, affects at least six people.

The Youth Behavior Risk Survey shows that 18 percent of middle school students in Kentucky had suicidal thoughts, 10.5 percent of middle school students had a plan for how they were going to kill themselves, and 6 percent attempted suicide.

In Kentucky high schools, 15 percent of students had thoughts of suicide, 13 percent had a plan and 8 percent attempted suicide.

Help is also available by texting 741741 and the word “home” to that number. Help via chatting through text is available 24/7 at that number.

Your local community mental health center, Cumberland River Behavioral Health (Comp Care), will see anybody. It can be reached at (606) 549-1440 or (606) 528-7010.

Below are some links to resources you can seek if you or someone you care about needs help.

• Zero Suicide in Healthcare and Behavioral Healthcare – www.zerosuicide.org.
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center – www.sprc.org.
• National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention – http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org.
• American Association of Suicidology – www.suicidology.org.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – www.afsp.org.
• National Council for Behavioral Health – http://www.thenationalcouncil.org.