Out of the Darkness Community walk held to raise awareness of mental health

Josh Navarro
·2 min read
6

Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States.

Local advocates, survivors and families came together Sunday at Jacksonville Beach to shine a light on the topic through a prevention walk.

They hope the walk will help others come out of the darkness.

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Dressed in gray shirts with iridescent angel wings on the back, you can see the names of David and Sean.

They are Lisa Phillips’ two sons who died by suicide.

“I just want families to know to tell their children to love them. That they love them every day, and we’re always there for them. Even though they don’t know it,” said Phillips.

It is the family’s first participation in this year’s Out of the Darkness Community Walk at Jacksonville Beach Sunday.

Read: Out of the Darkness Community Walk in Jacksonville Beach honoring those lost to suicide

The walk raises awareness of mental health and honors those lost to suicide.

“The hurt is always there. You wake up every day missing them. But with a great family, you can go on,” said Phillips.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, nearly 46,000 people died by suicide in 2020, and in that same year, there were 1.2 million suicide attempts.

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”Somebody loves you. Reach out and get help because you are important. This world needs you,” said Gale Williams. “Don’t ever feel like nobody cares because somebody cares. Just got to get to that right person.”

Williams said she tried to take her life after witnessing her brother’s death.

She overcame it. The goal of the event is to give people hope to call for help before they make that decision.

“With doing things like this, having conversations, if we could just even help one person you know,” said Stefanie Shaughnessy, chair of Out of the Darkness Community Walk.

“I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” said Phillips.

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