PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
Peach
ride
Sept.
11
SUICIDE,
A
state
and
local
problem
continued from Page A1
In the wake of the incident
at her offi ce, Lott, an optician,
searched out a support group
for grieving parents, but it was
a poor fi t. The parents who
gathered at the meeting had
experienced miscarriages or
lost a child to cancer, her son,
at least in part, had made a
choice. And there were no lo-
cal support groups for suicide
survivors at that time.
“A few months after that
I heard about the Out of the
Darkness Walk in Portland.
My daughter and I signed up,
raised a little bit of money and
headed to Portland,” Lott said.
It proved to be a life-chang-
ing trip.
“When something like this
happens, you are certain you
are the only person in the
world who knows what it feels
like and to see 1,000 other
people who have gone through
it … it was overwhelming and
emotional,” Lott said.
One ritual she discovered
at the Portland walk will be
recreated at the Salem Out of
the Darkness Walk, an honor
bead ceremony. Attendees will
be given beads in honor of
those they know who died by
their own hand and they will
be asked to hold them up all
at once during the day’s pro-
ceedings.
“That was the moment at
the Portland walk that I knew
I was not alone. It’s the most
sobering, beautiful thing I’ve
seen in my life,” Lott said.
While she had trouble fi nd-
ing a reason in John’s suicide,
Lott was determined to make
something good come out of
it, and she found it in the Out
of the Darkness gathering.
She attended the Portland
walk again in 2014 and brought
along $7,000 in donations for
the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention (AFSP). In
2015, she raised $12,000 out of
Portland’s $90,000 total.
That’s when AFSP Oregon
Area Director Ryan Price, also
a Keizer resident, asked her to
lead up an effort to bring a
Darkness Walk to the Cherry
City.
Suicide is the second leading cause of
death for those ages 10 to 34, and it’s the
eighth leading cause of death in Oregon for
all age groups according to statistics from the
American Foundation for Suicide Preven-
tion.
On average, one person in Oregon dies
by suicide every 11 hours. The suicide rate
in the Beaver State is nearly 1.5 times the
national average. The 742 Oregon deaths by
suicide in 2014 represent 14,281 years of po-
tential life lost based on an average lifespan
of 65 years.
To paint a clearer picture of the issue on
the local level, we asked the Keizer Police
Department to provide us with statistics re-
lated to suicide investigations in the city.
Since 2004, KPD has investigated 32 sui-
Salem Bicycle Club’s Peach
of a Century Bicycle Ride is
getting closer. The event takes
place on Sunday, Sept. 11.
The pre-registration fee is
$30 with an option to buy a
sandwich for $7.50 and a long
sleeve Sport-Tek T-shirt for
$20. Day-of-ride registration
requires a fee of $45. Register
online at www.salembicycle-
club.org.
Packet pick-up and day-
of-ride registration is located
cides and another 30 attempts.
Of the 32 suicide deaths, the youngest was
16 years old, the oldest 86 years old, both
were females. Twenty-three of the victims
were male. Firearms were used in 19 of the
deaths, seven were the result of asphyxiation.
The worst year was 2009 when seven suicide
deaths were investigated.
Of the 30 attempts, 17 were by individu-
als under the age of 34. Overdose was the
most common method in the attempts.
“I’m sure the numbers only represent
a fraction of the individuals we come into
contact with who are in crisis contemplating
doing harm to themselves. Many of those in-
dividuals voluntarily receive a ride from us
down to the hospital to receive services,” said
KPD Deputy Chief Jeff Kuhns.
at Chemeketa Community
College, 4000 Lancaster Drive
N.E., Salem. Packet pick-up
and day-of-ride registration is
from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
There are two different
routes to choose from. One
of them is 100 miles, which
goes through Jefferson, Stay-
ton, Sublimity, and Silverton.
The other is 66 or 76 miles
through Jefferson, Stayton, and
Aumsville. Be ready to enjoy a
piece of peach pie at the end.
F
F
O
%
5
7
up to
ry
inve
g
n
i
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e
d
remo
Get involved:
Volunteer or walk in Salem event
The fi rst ever Salem Out
of the Darkness Walk is slated
Saturday, Oct. 8, at Salem’s
Riverfront Park.
With more than a month
to go, the walk’s organizer,
Shawn Lott of Keizer, has
raised more than $40,000
and more than 1,000 partici-
pants have already registered.
The walk begins at 10
a.m., check-in and registra-
tion begins at 8:30 a.m. Reg-
istration can also be complet-
ed online at www.afsp.org/
SalemOR. Pets and strollers
are welcome. There is no fee
to participate.
There are numerous ways
to get involved without ac-
tually walking. Sponsorship
opportunities are still avail-
able and volunteers are need-
ed for the day of the event;
participants are welcome to
bring signs showing their
support. A remembrance
tent will also be established
on-site for those willing to
contribute non-returnable
photos.
The event has already
grown beyond Lott’s wildest
hopes. She is also looking for
volunteers to help organize
the day’s activities and assis-
tance with set-up and tear-
down before and after the
walk.
For
more
informa-
tion, contact
Lott
at
shawnie8366@yahoo.com.
When Price asked Lott what
she wanted fundraising goal to
be, he suggested $25,000. She
countered with $50,000.
“He asked if I thought that
was possible. I told him I said
it and it’s going to happen,”
Lott said. With more than a
month to go, she’s already col-
lected more than $40,000 and
more than 1,000 participants
have already signed up to walk.
Between 25 and 50 people are
contacting her each week to
fi nd out how to get involved.
The money raised supports
efforts of the AFSP including
advocacy, research, organizing
Survivor Days for those suf-
fering in the wake of suicide
and for implementation of the
More Than Sad curriculum, a
program that instructs teens,
parents and teachers how to be
smart about mental health.
Lott is hoping to break
AFSP fundraising records with
the Salem Out of the Darkness
Walk, but she has constant re-
minders of the real service be-
ing provided.
One of Lott’s recent calls
was from an individual strug-
gling against their own suicidal
thoughts. The October event is
giving them one more reason
to hang on.
“It’s about bringing people
together who have felt like
they can’t talk about this, and
not just the survivors, the ones
who are going through it now.
There are 1,000 people out
there who know about it al-
ready and want to be part of
it, but how many others don’t
even know yet? I don’t want it
to pass them by, and I want ev-
eryone to get something out of
it,” she said.
It would be easy to pretend
that Lott’s newfound purpose
was the cliched reason for her
son’s suicide. Make no mistake,
the pain is still quite real. Tears
still well up as she talks about
John and all the tough lessons
she’s learned between his sui-
cide and now, but those tears
are accompanied by the intense
and overwhelming moments
when she’s making a difference
for others who suffer through
similar struggles.
It’s why she “wakes up ev-
ery day feeling like I’ve won
the lottery” and her efforts are
the most touching tribute one
can imagine for a lost son.
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