Walk in Aiken brings awareness to suicide prevention
140 people came out in of a loved one
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States.
According to the CDC, almost 46,000 people died by suicide in 2020 and more than 12 million seriously thought about it.
The Out of the Darkness Walk in Aiken brought 140 people out on Sunday. It’s a walk to raise awareness and reach out to those who have lost someone to suicide, one step at a time.
Russ Jessop’s son, Ryan Jessop, died by suicide eight years ago when he was 26-years-old.
“He was a funny kid,” Russ Jessop said. “His favorite t-shirt said genius by birth slacker by choice. And that’s pretty much what he was.”
Ryan was also an Eagle Scout, a Taekwondo black belt and a hiker. Stories like his are one of hundreds shared on Sunday’s walk.
“One of the things I’m really trying to show people with this walk is, it’s not just that it gets easier with the age of time, it gets easier the more you talk about it,” Out of the Darkness Walk co-chair Juliana Taylor said.
Time es on, but the memories live on forever.
“There are some people that we see here that go to every walk every year,” Taylor said. “Some people are brand new. They can help the people who are newly struggling. It just increases the hope.”
Hope turning into solutions.
“If I can keep at least one person from going through what I’ve gone through with the death of my son, it’s all worth it,” Jessop said.
140 people showed up to walk for someone they knew or themselves personally.
If you or a loved one need a source of , the national suicide hotline in 9-8-8 and is available 24/7.
Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
