East Texans gather at Out of the Darkness Tyler Community Walk

Published 3:36 pm Saturday, September 18, 2021

Multiple mental health advocates, nonprofit organizations and members of local East Texas communities gathered at Rose Rudman Park for a bead ceremony, followed by a 3-mile walk in support of September being National Suicide Awareness month.

The purpose of Saturday’s Out of the Darkness Tyler Community Walk was to bring hope to those struggling and raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention.

As participants arrived at the walk, they chose a certain color of beads for their cause. If someone lost a child to suicide, they wore white beads. If someone lost a spouse to suicide, they had on red beads. If they were there because they struggle, they had on green beads.

Then, a bead ceremony was held where stories were shared, loved ones were remembered and support was shown for those struggling with suicide thoughts.

A third year participant, Karen Vaughan, said she first came to the suicide walk alone because she searched suicide awareness online. She said she had been having her own struggles, and when communicated to those around her, some lashed out at her.

She said she realized struggling with suicide and suicidal thoughts was extremely misunderstood. She knew she wanted to give back.

After finding the walk for suicide awareness, she wanted to get involved. Those negative comments were her inspiration.

“One of the things that was said to me was, on multiple occasions, was that having suicidal thoughts or being suicidal was extremely selfish, and why would I ever do that. I realized it was misunderstood,” Vaughan said.

She credits lack of dialogue and communication to that misunderstanding of those struggling with suicidal thoughts.

“Shame builds in silence. If we start talking about it, shame isn’t there anymore, the shame is less,” she said.

Vaughan said the first bead ceremony she attended at the walk was emotional.

She came to the walk to figure out why there were misunderstandings, and at the bead ceremony, the number of people who were holding green beads at the ceremony took her breath away.

“I am not alone,” she said.

At this year’s bead ceremony, Vaughan shared a part of her story to spread awareness and talk about it to help others.

The walk hosted a DJ and a photo booth, as well as resources from local organizations that support mental health and suicide awareness.

Donations at Saturday’s event benefited the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s education and support programs. Its goal is to reduce the annual U.S. rate of suicide by 20% by the year 2025.