Out of Darkness Walk brings out hundreds for suicide prevention awareness, dedication of memorial garden
Hundreds turned out at Washington Park on Saturday for the annual Out of the Darkness Walk coordinated by the Western Pennsylvania chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Washington County Suicide Prevention Task Force.
WIth each step along the 1½-mile route, the 270 participants honored friends and loved ones lost to suicide and provided support for survivors and those struggling with their mental health.
Canonsburg native Jen Rucker took part in the suicide prevention walk this year in memory of her great-nephew, Hayden Regal, who lost his life in 2021 at the age of 15.
“You never would have known he was struggling. He was quarterback of the football team, played baseball, he was such a kind and loving kid,” said Rucker of Regal, who excelled at sports in the Seneca Valley School District and loved spending time with his family.
Regal’s family launched the Hayden Regal Hope Project that donates funds to local mental health organizations to provide support for their programs in what Rucker said “is an effort to take something devastating and turn it into something positive.”
The event was held during National Suicide Prevention Month and raised for than $15,000 for AFSP – nearly doubling last year’s total.
The Out of the Darkness walk – the fourth annual walk in Washington County – was one of hundreds of community walks that AFST held around the country.
Nearly three dozen tables with suicide prevention and mental health resources were set up at the paviion at Washington Park, and walkers selected honor beads in different colors – each representing different connections people have to suicide like losing a spouse, partner, sibling, friend, or someone who has struggled with or attempted suicide – to wear on the walk. Participants also wore buttons bearing the names of people they were walking in honor of.
Tracy St. Jean marked her third suicide prevention walk this year, in memory of her best friend, Mercy Shriner, who lost her life in 2023 at age 49.
It was the third walk for St. Jean, who had known Shriner since fifth grade and had graduated with her from Bentworth High School, walked with Team Gypsies, one of 32 teams that participated.
“I run into people from so many different circles who all have lost someone they love to suicide or know someone who has,” said St. Jean.
At the end of the walk, a ribbon cutting was held for a Garden of Reflection and Remembrance erected at the park to “serve as a physical area for contemplation, remembrance and healing,” said Rebecca Salsbury of Washington County Suicide Prevention Task Force.
Funds raised at the walk will be used to work to eliminate suicide through delivering innovative programs, educating the public about suicide risk factors and warning signs, increasing funding for scientific research, and reaching out to individuals who have lost loved ones.
Surrounded by family, friends and co-workers from CHROME Federal Credit Union, Katie Hamilton participated in the walk, just two months after her husband, Zachry Hamilton, lost his life to suicide on July 17 at age 36, weeks after the birth of their second daughter.
Hamilton was a U.S. Air Force veteran who served multiple tours in Afghanistan.
Hamilton’s group, organized by CHROME, wore gray t-shirts that said, “Focus on the Glimmers,” a nod to Katie’s message to embrace the smallest of joys and find the good in every day.
“I want to get the message to others and just to remind people to keep going, that suicide is permanent and that problems are temporary,” said a distraught Hamilton. “Men’s mental health awareness and veterans’ mental health awareness needs to be addressed. I was always encouraging him to get help, but he wasn’t seeking the help he needed because he was a man and a veteran, and there is that male stigma of not asking for help and not talking about your feelings, and that all needs to end and it needs to change.”
Amy Sue Lillie, an emergency room nurse at UPMC Mercy, walked with Team Our Stories Aren’t Over.
“I and members of my family have struggled with depression and have been at the point where we didn’t know if we wanted to be around anymore and thought it might be easier to not be around, so this is close to us and we want to support mental health awareness and to let people know they are not alone and that other people feel the same way,” said Lillie. “I’m a nurse at Mercy emergency room, and we get detoxes and mental health patients, and it can impact anybody. It’s my first walk here, and I’m so impressed by all the resources Washington County has, it’s just incredible. I took some resources from the tables here so that I can give them to people. There is help available.”
If you or anyone you know are having suicidal thoughts, crisis services are availalbe 24/7, 365 days a year. Call Washington County Department of Human Services at 877-225-3567, or call or text 988 to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Veterans Crisis Line is 800-273-8255, ext. 1.