'Out of the Darkness' Walk Puts Suicide Awareness in the Spotlight

Each year, organizers of the hope to chip away at the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding suicide.

Carole Vesely, consultation education prevention manager at the Crisis Center in Canton, has certainly heard them all.

“It’s a gutless act. It’s a selfish act. They were crazy,” Vesely said. “We’ve got to work through all the labels and all the stigma connected to suicide so that people can better understand it.”

Vesely has worked with others to organize the suicide awareness walk, taking place Sept. 11 at Westbrook Veterans’ Memorial Park on 13th Street NW. Participants will gather at 6 p.m. that day and start walking on the park’s walking path at 6:30.

They’ll pass several signs around the path, all warning signs of suicide: talking about being a burden to others, increasing the use of alcohol or drugs and acting anxious or agitated. (You can find several more here.)

Organizers are trying something a little different this year by making the walk in the evening. It used to go through the night so that the participants travel “out of the darkness” by the walk’s end.

Participants still will release balloons at the Veterans’ Memorial, and those balloons contain messages to their loved ones.

Survivors speak out

Heather Czomba of Uniontown, who lost her 28-year-old son Stephan to suicide, and Amy Walther of North Canton, who lost her husband to suicide when he was 52, both want more people to participate in the walk this year. They’re eager to spread the word about suicide prevention.

Czomba hadn’t known of any resources to help her and her husband grieve. A friend referred her to the Crisis Center, and she’s been involved with it for about 10 years now.

“It’s been our lifesaver. I just can't get across to people, when it happens to them, they need to get with a group,” Czomba said. “As hard as it is, you can’t put it under the rug.”

All three women agreed suicide doesn't discriminate.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, what your status in life is. It’s there. It happens,” Czomba said.

Walther said next week is National Suicide Prevention Week and Sept. 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day.

The Crisis Center and survivor groups

Czomba and Walther both are in the alumni survivors’ group through the Crisis Center, and both speak at meetings and to the community when needed.

“If I can get survivors to go with me, they have the best impact,” Vesely said. “I can talk professionally about suicide recognition and prevention, but individuals like Amy and Heather focus on how important it is that we stop people from killing themselves. Because they are experiencing the impact of the suicide.”

The other group is for new grievers who are asked to stay in the group for at least a year to get past the really tough times — holidays, anniversaries and birthdays.

“The new group is focused on the intensity of their grieving and how they’re working through that,” Vesely said. “The alumni group does a lot of support, a lot of education, a lot of connecting with people in the community.”